Ukrainian solidarity alive and well on America’s East Coast
Thousands of miles from Ukraine, on the East Coast of the United States, two distinctly Ukrainian soccer clubs are flying the flag for the Eastern European nation, showing solidarity and raising awareness through football.
Like many lower league clubs in the area, the Ukrainian Nationals and the New York Ukrainians were formed by immigrant communities in their respective cities, and retain to this day the identity evident in their clubs’ names.
In Philadelphia, the identity of the Ukrainian Nationals Soccer Club is one of a wide range of cultures in the diverse Pennsylvanian city. The Nationals themselves are part of a larger Ukrainian sports club and group of institutions that retain the language and emblems of their country of origin. Some of this has rubbed off on others, and has in turn helped raise awareness of the current plight of people in Ukraine.
“Our cooperation is part of a broader community,” says Eugene Luciw, an executive on the board
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