They don’t call it “Soccer City USA” for nothing – even before Major League Soccer’s Timbers slapped their title on every other youth club and development program, the grassroots soccer scene in Portland, Oregon has been active. Teams like Gresham United and IPS FC have found their way into the US Open Cup; FCM Portland has travelled across the country to play in the NPSL playoffs; and PDX FC have grown into a well-received and recognizable soccer brand in lower league soccer circles. There is a history there, in Stumptown, in the shadow of Mt. Hood and along the Columbia and Willamette rivers, where soccer has been played for over a hundred years and the club founded by Luke and Max Babson in 2017 is a part of that thread. More so now that they’ve won their first piece of silverware by taking home the 2020 Oregon Open Cup.

Its really not for nothing either – there is a greater connection. While PDX FC is a member of NPSL and has competed in the league since their inception, the winner of the Oregon Open Cup is put into the discussion for inclusion in the John F Kennedy Cup, hosted by the PCSL (Pacific Coast Soccer League) based out of British Columbia, Canada. The JFK Cup historically pits the best grassroots clubs from Oregon, Washington and B.C. against one another but hasn’t operated since IPS FC won it last in 2015. “Originating in 1960 the John F Kennedy Cup was born as an annual International Championship played by top calibre amateur Men soccer teams from Canada USA. and Mexico.” PCSL President David Collard told us. “The Trophy is unique as it is the only sport award with the late Presidents namesake. When the tournament was inaugurated in 1961. President Kennedy recognized the athletic requirements involved in the sport of soccer, allowing his name to be used in connection with his physical fitness campaign.”

While the tournament no longer includes teams outside of the Pacific Northwest, there was a plan to revive it in 2020… until Covid-19 struck. We’re all too familiar with the impact the novel coronavirus has had on sports and social events across the world and it was no surprise when the tournament was cancelled. There is a silver lining though, it gives tournament organizers time to expand it beyond a three-team round robin in a set location and instead we may see past winners IPS FC represent Oregon, alongside Oregon Open Cup winners PDX FC, in a more robust program for 2021. If PDX FC can parlay their performance into winning a regional competition and there’s no reason to think that they can’t, then who knows where this may take the club?

Where indeed. While head coach and owner Luke Babson has shown interest in the US Open Cup in the past, he’s recently said the club is looking at qualifying more seriously now. It makes sense. PDX FC struggled at times for league form during its first couple of years in the NPSL, which is to be expected of a team financed on the shoestring budget of a couple of brothers who just love the game and want to give local players an opportunity to extend their careers. While most other clubs in the region are connected to youth development club money, PDX FC are financed by their handful of local sponsors and a few season ticket holders, but mostly by the Babsons themselves, who also work day jobs to keep the lights on at home. However, all of that aside, the club has made it over the proverbial hump and have survived longer than a good portion of new lower league clubs in US soccer normally do. Because of their stability and persistence, and probably to Luke’s deep connection to local soccer in Oregon, PDX FC has been able to up the ante in the recruiting department and their 2020 Oregon Open Cup roster is the strongest squad they’ve fielded to date. The soccer was well-conceived, incising and exciting to watch – the resulting cup win was well deserved.

A team like this can stay in the NPSL and challenge for the regional title, which it probably would have done this season – the roster is that solid. The silverware should bolster recruiting for next year too. However, should they stay in the NPSL? Could a team like this (with its kits being sold internationally and players in the 18 with international caps) expand its operations and step up a league or two? In their current budget situation, absolutely not – it would make no sense to professionalize if the club isn’t generating the type of revenue needed to pay players and additional staff. But what if there was a Chattanooga FC / Detroit City FC style funding scenario where the team went public and sold shares to soccer investors? Would they be able to afford the exorbitant league fees of USL League 1 or 2? Or could they stay in NPSL, continue to grow for a season or two and aim for joining NISA in a few years’ time?

“I would want to see a NW Division of NISA happen, or at least a couple Pacific NW teams, so we could have single day away matches.” Babson told me when I messaged him about the possibility. For NISA to expand to Cascadia, there would probably have to be three teams in addition to a Portland market team in order to cut down on travel costs and promote local rivalries. At first, that seems unlikely, but if you consider the recent move that the GCPL (Gulf Coast Premier League) made to become a sort of independent league affiliate of NISA, it become more tangible for clubs from the Pacific Northwest to become involved somehow. It would take a local league to choose to forge a relationship with NISA and then for PDX FC to search for those previously mentioned funding options. While the reasons for staying in the NPSL are relatively lower league costs (as compared to USL 1 or 2) and relatively higher playing levels than a city league – both of those could be ticked off by joining something like the WWPL and then advocating for the WWPL to work with NISA as an affiliated league.

A lot of that is just guesswork – and a little daydreaming. However, none of it is impossible and if PDX FC were to take their branding and soccer public, I would be the first in line. While Cascadia does have its kings, there’s no reason PDX FC can’t be its rebellious independent prince. Even if none of that happens for a few more years, a hearty congratulations goes out to PDX FC for winning the Oregon Open Cup and doing so in fashion. Health and safety are paramount, and Oregon Sportsbeat should be commended for throwing a fantastic cup competition, in the middle of a global pandemic, with no reported cases of illness and no serious injuries. Perhaps we can look forward to PDX FC looking to enter the 2021 US Open Cup during the qualifying rounds and even earning a spot in The Cup itself.