Hellenic United Athletic club gets mentioned in Spanish newspaper "Hoy" (second largest Spanish newspaper in the United States, based out of Chicago) and its major team gets the choice of picture in the article. The newspaper is performing a series on the local Chicago soccer scene and is read by thousands of Spanish readers. The reporter, Mr. Alejandro Yanun, is very familiar with both the National Soccer League and Premier Soccer League and his pieces on Chicago based clubs and leagues are of great interest and depth.
Full article (in Spanish): http://www.vivelohoy.com/deportes/7977775/el-mundo-en-las-ligas-amateur-de-futbol-de-chicagoMr. Alejandro Yanun was graceful enough to translate the article for the non-Spanish readers below:
The World in Chicago Soccer Leagues
The whole world is in the Chicago soccer leagues. You may see a Bosnian player in CLASA (Chicago Latin American Soccer Association), a Mexican striker scoring goals for Shogun (a Japanese team in the Premier Soccer League) and even a team formed by Americans and named Borrachos FC. (Borrachos means 'Drunk Guys' in Spanish).
"Borrachos are all white Americans", explains Andrew De Virion, the Polish president of the Premier Soccer League. He does not have a clue about the meaning of the word and its origin. He laughs when we tell him its meaning.
This is the way of the local soccer leagues, with such an array of origins, languages and nationalities that consequences can be positive or negative. For example, the three Mexicans who played for the Greek side Falcons learned a few words in Greek, and Admir Ljeljak, a well-known Bosnian midfielder who plays for Valladolid in CLASA, can pronounce many sentences in decent Spanish. Igor Dimov, from the republic of Macedonia, is the goalkeeper with the Croatians of Adria and says that he has no problem with the language combinations "because I speak the same language as many teammates and I use English with the rest of the team."
But sometimes such a mix is not that positive. Colombians and Mexicans that make up Deportivo Colomex have complained more than once that they are playing against twelve rivals, "the other team and the referee," in the National Soccer League, which is almost completely European. "We had the same problem with the guys from Manzanilla (a Hispanic team) in my league," adds De Virion. "They thought we were always against them because we are Europeans, but then they realized that we play a more physical game and sometimes referees don't make some calls; it took them two years to realize that."
De Virion says that there is no favoritism within the Premier Soccer League and there is proof of that: Torino FC, a Peruvian team, won the Cup and the Supercup, the tournaments played in 2010, in the Over 30 division.
Europeans and Asians
Polish players from Eagles and Croatians from RWB Adria have been traditional powerhouses in the Metro and National soccer leagues. Gazelle FC, a team comprised of Nigerians, surprised everyone by reaching the championship game in the NSL last summer. In the past there were also periods of domination of German teams such as Schwaben or Winged Bull, the most important Assyrian club.
Who are the Assyrians? They don't come from a specific country -which makes a classification for them more confusing- but from many countries such as Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran. Today there are about half a million Assyrians in the United States and former tennis player Andre Agassi is maybe the most famous descendant of this group. The Winged Bull, a powerhouse a few years ago, is the best Assyrian club in Chicago as a result of mixing their own players with people from other countries.
John Kosmas, the person in charge of Hellenic United, a Greek club, describes a similar situation. "On our younger teams, who play in the Major and First division of the NSL, there are about 80% Americans and 20% Greeks but our older teams (Over 30 and Over 40) have the opposite composition," he explains. "The explanation is there was a big wave of Greek immigration many years ago but then Greeks stopped coming."
Everything is relative, though. The Over 40 Hellenic United team that Kosmas describes as "80% Greek" has in fact an American midfielder as its star, plus an Argentine, an Italian, a Norwegian, a Dutch and a Belgian.
"There are Polish or Yugoslavian teams in which all the players are from their countries," says Matt Frederick, who plays for the German club Schwaben. "But other British, German or Irish clubs are almost completely American today." The German team Green White, for example, has a Turkish player who speaks perfect Spanish because he lived in Argentina. In the past Green White also had Mexican Jose Perez, the owner of ChiTown, an indoor soccer facility on the South Side. Germans are basically nonexistent today in Green White.
"Even Adria (a Croatian club and current National league champion) had many Mexican players in the past," adds Gregory Vlamakis, the league president. There many teams that started as Assyrians or Polish but now it would be more appropriate to say they are Assyrian-American or Polish-American."
National Soccer League (by country of origin)
Poland: SAC Wisla, Podlasie, CKS Warta, Stal Mielec, Zaglebie SC, Stare Byki
Croatia: RWB Adria, HNK Primorac
Assyria: Chicago Thunder, Winged Bull, Assyrian FC, Shlama FC
Serbia: Republika Srpska,
Bosnia: FK Kozarac, BH Lilies, West Bosnia, FK Podrinje, NK Prijedor
Greece: Hellenic United
Albania: Albanian Stars, KF Tirana
Nigeria: Gazelle
Turkey: Turkish FC
- JAHBAT is a team whose acronym means "Jamaica, America, Haiti, Belize, Asia and Trinidad and Tobago"
- The Hispanic teams are Deportivo Colomex (Colombians and Mexicans), Independiente and Gremio (mostly Mexicans) and Chasquis (Peruvian owner and Latin American players)
Premier Soccer League (by origin)
Bulgaria: Balkan, Botev, Bulgara FC, Pirin Chicago
Ireland: Chicago Celtic
Poland: FC Soccer Place, FC Tarnovia
Greece: Hellenic United
Italy: International SC
Romania: Romania SC
Japan: Shogun
Poland: Stare Byki
- The Hispanic teams are Torino FC (Peru), Manzanilla (Hispanics of different origin), Pampas (Argentina) y CF Jaguares (from Central America)
Metropolitan Soccer League (by origin)
Poland: AAC Eagles, Calisia, Lightning, Highlander, Cracovia
Ukraine: Lions, Wings
Germany: Schwaben, Green White, Kickers
Croatia: Concordia, Hrvat, Zrinski
Lithuania: Liths
England/Ireland: Vikings
Serbia: United Serbs, FC Serbska, Belgrade
Greece: Olympics
Italy: Maroons
- There are no Hispanic teams in this league
Note: The teams that do not appear in this list are considered "American"