JOINT PRESS RELEASE
January 9, 2018 – Los Angeles – United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is excited to announce Junior Lone Star Football Club as a new member starting with the 2018 Spring Season.
Based in Philadelphia, Junior Lone Star FC enters the UPSL’s Northeast Conference and will play its home games at Monsignor Bonner High School (403 N. Lansdowne Ave., Drexel Hill, PA 19026) in compliance with UPSL’s Minimum Standards.
United Premier Soccer League Commissioner Yan Skwara said, “We are very excited to add Junior Lone Star FC out of Philadelphia as an expansion team in the UPSL’s new Northeast Conference for 2018. Junior Lone Star FC has shown its quality through the years and now the club is looking at a wider stage, and the UPSL can provide that with our growing movement of teams embracing the UPSL’s Pro/Rel Model. We wish Junior Lone Star FC the best of luck as it prepares to kick off with the Spring 2018 season.”
Philadelphia’s only Pro Development soccer club, Junior Lone Star FC was founded in 2001 by West African immigrants fleeing wars in their respective countries. The club has grown from a single team of 17- and 18-year-olds into four teams with more than 150 total players and qualified for the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Junior Lone Star FC President Paul Konneh said, “We want to mix things up and play guys in both the UPSL (and the NPSL). They’re both competitive leagues and now everybody can go UPSL or NPSL, and it will give those players that chance to be seen on a wider stage, too. The UPSL gives us another avenue where we can showcase the ability of our other players.”
A native of Liberia, Paul Konneh, 31, has been the club’s President since late 2011. A former student-athlete at Neumann University in Aston, Penn., Konneh helped the Knights claim their first-ever conference championship in 2010. He previously played in the Liberian 3rd Division before immigrating to the United States in 2006.
“The UPSL is an emerging league and we’ve seen how teams in the league have done quite well in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, so we intend to have a team that can compete with some of the best teams in our region,” Konneh said.
Bobbi Ali, the founder of Junior Lone Star FC, will serve as Head Coach. James Karnga will serve as his Assistant Coach.
The team soon will announce its upcoming game schedule soon.
About the United Premier Soccer League
The UPSL was formed in 2011 and currently includes more than 125 teams in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. UPSL is the fastest growing Pro Development League in the USA, with 140-plus teams targeted for 2018 Spring Season. Each UPSL team is individually owned and operated, and is responsible for maintaining either UPSL Pro Premier Division or Championship Division minimum standards.
UPSL teams are all eligible to participate in the U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Rounds through the leagues affiliation with the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA).
More information about UPSL can be found at www.upslsoccer.com or by following the league on Facebook (www.facebook.com/upslsoccer) and twitter (@usplsoccer)