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How Ukraine's immigrant community turned Philadelphia into a soccer town
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+ Special Series Soccer Edition Follow the World Cup in the NPR App Find Your Station Sign up for Up First for Soccer Edition on Tuesdays The 2026 FIFA World Cup is from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics How Ukraine's immigrant community turned Philadelphia into a soccer town Long before most Americans paid attention to soccer, Philadelphia had a thriving culture of athletes and fans shaped in large part by Ukrainian immigrants.
+ Sixteen host cities across North America, including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Kansas City, Miami, and New York/New Jersey in the United States.
− The sport offers a rallying place for Ukrainians at a time when their home country is fighting for survival.
+ The NPR Network will have coverage from across the country leading up to and during the championship.
− National How Ukraine's immigrant community turned Philadelphia into a soccer town June 24, 20263:59 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered Brian Mann How Ukraine's immigrant community turned Philadelphia into a soccer town Listen · 3:51 3:51 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5845366/nx-s1-9823496" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Long before most Americans paid attention to soccer, Philadelphia had a thriving culture of athletes and fans shaped in large part by Ukrainian immigrants.
+ Long before the World Cup, Ukrainian immigrants built a soccer powerhouse in Philly June 25, 20265:00 AM ET Heard on All Things Considered Brian Mann
Oleksandr "Sasha" Ostapchuk (left) heads a ball while playing for a tournament squad of the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals soccer team in a match against a club with roots in Belarus at Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center in North Wales, Pa., on June 21.
− The sport offers a rallying place for Ukrainians at a time when their home country is fighting for survival.
+ Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption
NORTH WALES, Pa.
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SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
This summer's World Cup games are drawing big crowds.
+ — Just before game time, Roman Chuprynyak sat in a locker room bent forward, face intense.
− But until the 1990s, most Americans ignored soccer.
+ He ran his hand through stubbly gray hair while giving his team one more pep talk.
"You win," he shouted in Ukrainian.
− Immigrant leagues and ethnic clubs helped keep the sport alive here.
+ "There's no other option, damn it!"
The men, wearing the yellow and blue national colors of Ukraine, roared a cheer and jogged out to the pitch in this suburb just outside Philadelphia.
This isn't World Cup play.
− One of the most storied clubs was founded by Ukrainians in the 1950s.
+ That's happening in Philadelphia's big stadium 45 minutes away.
Soccer Edition These are two local, ethnic soccer clubs, players with roots in Belarus scrumming on the home pitch of a Ukrainian club called Tryzub.
− NPR's Brian Mann found the Ukie nation in Philadelphia is still going strong.
+ The club's name is a reference to the trident, Ukraine's national symbol.
− BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Roman Chuprynyak, who grew up playing soccer in Ukraine, is in the locker room with his players giving one last pre-game pep talk.
ROMAN CHUPRYNYAK: (Non-English language spoken).
MANN: "You have to win," he tells his guys, "there's no other option."
UNIDENTIFIED ATHLETE #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED ATHLETE #2: (Non-English language spoken).
(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE BLOWING)
MANN: They take to the field in this suburb just outside Philadelphia, wearing the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine.
+ "Everybody calls us Ukis," Chuprynyak said, grinning with pride.
− This isn't World Cup play.
+ After immigrating to the U.S.
− That's happening in the big stadium 45 minutes away.
+ as a teenager in 2001, he found his way to Tryzub, where he now works as a coach and an athletic director.
− These are local ethnic soccer clubs - guys with day jobs with roots in Belarus, playing on the home pitch of the Ukrainian club called Tryzub where Chuprynyak is a coach and a player.
+ "This club has been proven through time — 75 years it's been here."
Roman Chuprynyak (center) gives a pep talk to his team, made up of Ukrainian immigrants and Ukrainian Americans, before a match against Belarus on June 21. Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption
Tryzub, formally known as the Ukrainian American Sport Center, focuses on amateur league play and is home to the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals. It's a top-tier amateur team now, but in the 1950s and 1960s, the squad dominated American pro-leagues, during an era when soccer was still largely eclipsed in the U.S. by football, baseball and basketball.
− CHUPRYNYAK: So everybody calls us Ukies.
+ In its heyday, the team, led by Ukrainian refugees from World War II and Stalin's postwar oppression, won a half-dozen national championships in various American professional leagues.
− This club has been proven through times - 75 years been here.
+ It also convinced big European teams like Manchester United to come play exhibition matches.
− MANN: These days, Tryzub - the club's name means trident, that's Ukraine's national symbol - focuses on amateur league play.
+ "Nobody cared about [soccer] in the '60s except the Ukrainians and these other ethnic teams," said Yana Pashaeva, who made a documentary about Philadelphia's deep Ukrainian soccer culture.
− But in the '50s and '60s, the club fielded a powerhouse pro team called the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals.
+ Her film tracks how members of the club helped lay the foundation of the modern U.S.
− Ukrainian refugees fleeing World War II and Stalin's oppression helped the Ukies win a bunch of national championships in the U.S. at a time when the sport was still mostly eclipsed by football, baseball and basketball.
+ soccer movement, which began to draw wider popularity in the 1990s.
− IANA PASHAEVA: Nobody cared about it in '60s except, you know, Ukrainians and this other ethnic teams.
MANN: That's Iana Pashaeva, who made a documentary about Philadelphia's Ukrainian soccer culture.
+ Through the late 1950s and 1960s, the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals soccer team was one of the top pro-league soccer teams in the United States.
− Her film tracks how Tryzub members started training camps across the country.
+ Immigrants fleeing World War II and Stalin's oppression brought their love of the game to Pennsylvania, helping to establish soccer as an American sport.
− They coached national teams, helping lay the foundation of modern American soccer.
+ Photo provided by Eugene Luciw, Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center, used with permission/Eugene Luciw hide caption
Much of the documentary focuses on a Ukrainian immigrant named Walter Chyzowych, who settled in Philadelphia in 1949.
− The club also became a focus of Ukrainian life here in Philadelphia.
PASHAEVA: It's more than just about sports and soccer.
+ Chyzowych was a star player who helped establish a network of coaching schools and camps around the United States.
− It's about community and belonging and pride.
+ He later managed the U.S. national team and coached top national squads.
− (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: (Singing in non-English language).
+ "He had to wash the uniforms for the team himself because they just didn't have enough resources to hire someone," Pashaeva said.
− MANN: On this summer day, there's soccer on the club grounds, but there's also a cultural festival - kids singing Ukraine's national anthem, dancing in bright embroidered shirts.
+ Eugene Luciw, who serves as Tryzub's spokesman and unofficial historian, describes Chyzowych as the "godfather" of American soccer and says immigrants made the current soccer boom possible.
− (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MANN: Watching in the crowd is a man in dark robes with a long white beard. Father Taras Naumenko is a Ukrainian Orthodox priest, and it turns, out also a passionate soccer goalie.
+ "It became what it is as a result of émigré clubs such as us — and specifically us," Luciw said.
− TARAS NAUMENKO: I am one of the chaplains of the club.
+ Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble performs at the heritage festival at Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center on June 21.
− I'm a soccer player, and I still play in a men's league.
MANN: Naumenko says Ukrainian soccer in Philadelphia is more important than ever, bringing people together after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
+ Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption
According to Luciw, Tryzub and the Ukis also grew into something more than a soccer and sports club.
− He gestures at families picnicking on the grass.
+ They became one of the anchors of Ukrainian life and identity in Philadelphia.
− NAUMENKO: There are many people in this community who've lost relatives - brothers, nephews, father, sons.
+ On one recent day, while soccer players competed on the pitch, there was also a cultural festival, with kids singing Ukraine's national anthem and performing traditional dances in bright embroidered shirts.
− MANN: Back on the field, the Ukrainians have taken the lead.
+ "Ukraine's culture and national identity cannot be destroyed," Luciw said from the stage, before calling for a moment of silence to honor those lost in the war after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
− (CHEERING)
MANN: Roman Chuprynyak says with Philadelphia hosting World Cup games, he's proud Tryzub played a role establishing soccer in America.
+ Father Taras Naumenko poses for a photo at the heritage festival at Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center on June 21.
− He also thinks the club's history sends a message his culture won't be erased.
CHUPRYNYAK: It's a Ukie nation, Ukie family.
+ Naumenko is one of the chaplains for the center's soccer club.
− There is going to be no letting that go.
+ Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption
Watching from the crowd was Father Taras Naumenko, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest, one of Tryzub's team chaplains and a passionate soccer goalie.
− That's just going to stick here forever.
+ "I'm a soccer player, and I still play in a men's league," he said.
− UNIDENTIFIED ATHLETE #3: (Non-English language spoken).
+ According to Naumenko, the club, which helped sustain Ukrainian culture during the Cold War, gained new importance after Russia's invasion.
− UNIDENTIFIED ATHLETE #4: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED ATHLETE #3: (Non-English language spoken).
MANN: On this afternoon, Chuprynyak and his Ukrainian side take the win in front of their home crowd, 4 goals to nothing.
Brian Mann, NPR News, Philadelphia.
(SOUNDBITE OF TAY IWAR SONG, "REFLECTION STATION") Copyright © 2026 NPR.
+ "It unifies us," he said, gesturing at families picnicking on the grass.
− All rights reserved.
+ "There are many people in this community who've lost relatives, brothers, nephews, fathers, sons."
One of the players on the field was Sasha Ostapchuk, who came to the U.S.
− Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
+ a few years ago after the war intensified.
− Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary.
+ He said finding his people and his sport in America made him feel less lonely.
"I was looking for a good team, so I found Ukrainian national team," he said.
− Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio.
+ "It's so far from Ukraine, so good."
Roman Chuprynyak, who played and coached as his team won this local league game five goals to nil, said he's proud his club helped establish soccer in America.
− Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication.
+ He also thinks Tryzub's deep history in America sends a message that his Ukrainian culture can't be erased.
"It's a Uki nation, a Uki family," Chuprynyak said.
− The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
+ "There's just no letting that go.
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+ That's going to stick here forever."
On that afternoon, Chuprynyak and his Ukrainian side took the win one more time, going four goals to nil in front of their home crowd.
The Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals soccer team celebrates its 4-0 win against Belarus at Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center on June 21. Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption
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