STL United FC is youth soccer team made up of players from South St. Louis, typically from the areas near Tower Grove Park. The core of the team was initially formed via students from St. Francis Cabrini Academy, a South Side Catholic parish, though players have also come a variety of other schools since the first year. After forming in 2005 as Panda AC, the team was “taken on” in 2006 by the STL United FC organization in St. Louis, a group of soccer enthusiasts who have fully funded the squad. To date, the team has included over 50 players, many of them international, including the following countries of origin: Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Togo, Venezuela and Vietnam, among others.

The team has been a consistent member of 8v8 and 4v4 competition in the New Dimensions league, which fosters Dutch-based principles of “letting the game be the teacher,” with strong emphases on diversity, sportsmanship and player control of the game experience. We’ve also: scrimmaged against club teams from St. Louis, Columbia and Jefferson City; have attended an MLS game as a group; have been featured on News Channel 5, with a feature by Frank Cusumano; and have had players selected to be ballkids at the USA vs. Brazil match in Chicago during 2007, as well as multiple Billiken matches.

The funding of STL United FC’s youth team comes directly from the financial support of members of STL United FC (www.stlunitedfc.net), with donations of money, equipment and coaching from a variety of St. Louis soccer entities, notably: Saint Louis University, Metro United, Wolfpack, Scott Gallagher and the Metro Strikers. Camps like Joe Clarke’s at Washington University, Dan Donigan’s at SLU and the CBC Dutch Touch camp have all provided scholarships to players over the years.