A historic first season can end with a championship for Omaha Street Futbol Club, a fourth division premier league team formed by Juan Cardenas and Sebastian Barbosa.
“There are a lot of reasons we started this club, but one was to bring in talented players from different backgrounds that would help us make it to a championship and that is what these players have done,” Cardenas said.
Omaha Street plays a Worthington team they tied 3-3 and lost 4-2 this season. Omaha Street has a 7-1-2 record while Worthington is undefeated.
Coach Rodrigo Retana is excited to play in the championship game.
“We have grown as a team so much since the last time we played Worthington,” Retana said. “If we stay strong on defense, I am confident we can win.”
Retana said winning is important, but emphasized there is more to the club than just winning.
“This is an opportunity for players from all ethnicities, cultures, backgrounds to come together,” he said. “We have players representing ten different countries, which is very cool.
Omaha Street was formed when Cardenas moved from Boston and met Barbosa and the idea of starting a UPSL club emerged. In Boston, Cardenas helped form Boston Street Futbol Club.
“We started this club to give players from Nebraska more opportunities to play soccer at a higher level and if able, to pursue their childhood dream of playing professionally,” Barbosa said.
Around 80 players tried out in February. Fifty players were kept and divided into two teams.
“The number at tryouts showed that Omaha needed something like this,” Barbosa said. “These numbers allow for more competition among the players and make it possible for us to select the best 22 players for the UPSL league games.”
One of the 22 players making in impact with Omaha Street is Ozzie Cisneros. Cisneros played in the youth academy for Sporting Kansas City and played professionally with Sporting KC II. He also represented the United States internationally at the under 15 level. Cisneros said he has loved his time with Omaha Street.
“The experience has been great, good group of guys and great coaches,” Cisneros said. “I am excited to try to win a championship and bring something to the city.”
There is no age limit in UPSL, so players in the Omaha Street program range from high school to players in their thirties.
“It is a great opportunity for some of the younger players to get exposed to high level play,” Barbosa said. “There are around ten high schoolers playing in our club, and they have already made an impact.”
Cardenas said playing in the championship game is huge for a first-year team.
“It shows what we’ve built in a such short time and playing in the final itself is a huge win and winning the trophy would be incredible.”
If Omaha Street wins on Saturday, it advances to the next round against the winner of the Midwest South division, composing of teams from Kansas.
“This season has been a journey where we have grown little by little,” Barbosa said. “The players have grown in confidence and chemistry and have become a family right in time for when it matters most.”
The game will take place in Worthington Minnesota on Saturday June 28th at 2pm. It will be livestreamed, and a link can be found on Omaha Street’s website and social media.
“We are going to continue to bring in champion players and build this program to be on the UPSL map and win championships,” Cardenas said.
Ann Carlson is currently a freshman at University of Nebraska Lincoln studying Sports Media and Broadcasting.