Deportivo Rose City (La Liga Leon in Portland, Oregon / UPSL)
When was your club founded and by whom? What is the mission?
The club started playing very recently. Our first outdoor season was in the fall of 2020; about a year ago. Before, a core group of the guys had played a lot of indoor together. Additionally with the pandemic and several other teams in the area not playing regularly we gained some new players. These were mostly all guys we had played with here and there for years. The club was formed by Orlando Juarez, Adan Cazárez, Don Migue and Don Larry.
What league do you play in and what helped you make that decision?
We play in la Liga Leon locally because it’s the league located in our part of Portland. We finished as runner ups in our fall 2020 season in the first division and then won the championship in the spring 2021 season. We play the final of the fall 2021 season next Sunday and are going for the domestic bicampeonato. Additionally, we recently joined the UPSL when local soccer promotor Avery Palchikoff proposed the opportunity to us as well as local rival St. John’s. We wanted to take the step to the next level to experience something new and grow the club.
Do you have a partnership with a youth program? How do you fill your roster? Are you still looking for players?
We don’t have any partnerships with youth programs, however it’s something we would like to create when the time comes. The team has really been made by friends and friends of friends.
Some teams sell scarves and custom kits, while others have youth program money; how do you cover the operational costs of running a club?
We would love to sell things like scarves and jerseys but we’re not there yet. Our uniforms were provided by Birreria PDX, a local food truck who has rapidly expanded from 1 to 5 food trucks in just over a year. They have been a big supporter. Additionally Best Cleaning Service has helped us out with funds for field rentals and uniforms. And a week before the UPSL season started, our local rival St. John’s sponsor, Kleen Karma Gardens and AB donated to us in a crucial moment when the team really needed help to get the season going. However, in a large part the week-to-week operations of the team is funded by the coaches who while not being made of money have put all their extra money into keeping the team going. Players have also stepped up to help with costs. It’s been hard to find a major sponsor to help us run the team the way I’m sure we would like to, but it’s Dvo Rose City is a passion shared by many of us who are part of the team or close to the team and we’ll all do whatever it takes to keeps things going until perhaps we get a better structure of funding in place.
Are there other local, non-MLS teams, who you see as rivals or would like to challenge?
We don’t feel any real rivalries with anyone locally quite yet but there’s definitely teams we play where the games mean something extra. Now that St. John’s is the only other UPSL team in Oregon that is growing organically into a nice rivalry.
Where do you see the club in five years? What are the long-term objectives?
The sky is the limit. We like to dream and think big. Who knows what the future holds but we are ready to face the challenges that come. To be honest an MLS franchise would probably be the ultimate goal!
Follow Deportivo Rose City on Facebook HERE