About the Club

Our Story

Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn’t.

Youth soccer does not hand out opportunities according to talent. It hands them out to families who can carry the fee, drive to the field, take a weekday afternoon off for a tryout, and already know how the system works. A player who cannot clear all four is not a worse player. They are a player nobody ever got to see.

Umoja is the club built to be the exception. We coach seriously, we place players where the game will challenge them, and we take the things that would otherwise interrupt a player’s development — cost, transportation, schedules, equipment, food, paperwork — and make them the club’s responsibility instead of the family’s.

Ninety percent of success on the field happens off the field, and we understand that. We do not shy away from supporting our players in all aspects of their lives.

Everything we do comes back to a pure, unadulterated love for the game, and the genuine belief that soccer betters the world. Soccer is community, respect, kindness, and for some a religion. Umoja is simply a vessel for players to experience all that the beautiful game has to offer.

Founder's Note

Why this club exists.

Umoja was created for families like mine. My sisters, Nejat and Jamila, are refugees from Eritrea who grew up in Clarkston. I met them through soccer, and over the years I have watched them grow into amazing, successful, driven young women.

Every single bit of that success has been earned. Starting at age 12, I helped my mom navigate the U.S. youth soccer system for our family. It was confusing and expensive, and I figured that, being that young, eventually I would understand it all. That someday the system would make sense. We worked with clubs to explain our circumstances, to explain that Nejat and Jamila's parents, despite all their hard work, could not take on the cost. Futile attempts by clubs to offer scholarships left my mom still footing the bill for thousands of dollars in travel, food, and transportation per season.

Eventually, Nejat graduated and started her track to become a nurse, and Jamila committed to play NCAA Division I soccer. I entered adulthood, and it still did not make any sense. In fact, the system we had spent years in made even less sense than when we started. Some clubs cover full travel, others cover full tuition. Some clubs cover everything, but the level of play suffered. No club did it all. So I decided to create the club that did.

We often praise players who “make it out” for being resilient. Trinity Rodman, Jaedyn Shaw, Clint Dempsey. I say, we stop putting families in a position where youth soccer is synonymous with financial sacrifice. Through Umoja, I will work tirelessly to make that a reality.

Our players will be known for their brilliance on the pitch, not the adversity they have overcome. Umoja’s scholarship program is built to be the most comprehensive in the nation, in deep hope that others will do the same.

Juliana

Founder & General Manager

Our Roots

By Clarkston, for Clarkston.

Soccer is home in Clarkston. The sport transcends language, color, and creed, unifying the most diverse square mile in America. Umoja or Unity in Swahili — is a club that belongs to the community.

As we grow, we commit to keeping Clarkston at the forefront, focusing on strengthening community infrastructure, and creating spaces that serve purpose and create access.

Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn’t.

Why this club exists.

By Clarkston, for Clarkston.

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