Salem, Oregon — founded 2024
More than a club. A place to belong.
A semi-professional club built in Salem, Oregon by players from 16 countries — refugees, immigrants and locals wearing the same shirt.
Our purpose
Soccer is the bridge. The community is the point.
Salem Panthers FC is about more than winning soccer games. Our purpose is to use soccer as a bridge between cultures, communities, businesses, families and individuals — so people from different backgrounds can step onto the same field, wear the same shirt and represent the same city.
- Unity
- Opportunity
- Diversity
- Community
- Belonging
- Development
This is our club. This is our community. This is where we belong.
- 16 Nationalities
in one changing room - 43 Players on the
registered roster - 2024 Founded from
an idea and a dream - UPSL United Premier Soccer League
Oregon Conference
The squad
The people behind the jersey
Some of our players have competed professionally. Some came through college or academy programs. Some arrived in the United States as refugees. Some grew up on these fields. Every one of them has a story.
The founder
Once the game begins, everyone understands the ball.
Salem Panthers FC began as a dream. With his own refugee background and years working in the nonprofit and refugee community, Jules Lipanda understood that people arrive in the United States carrying very different stories.
Some come carrying difficult ones. Others are searching for opportunity, friendship, or simply a place where they feel accepted. Soccer breaks those barriers down. You do not have to speak the same language. You do not have to come from the same country. You do not have to have the same story.
Building the club has taken personal sacrifice, money, time and a long list of problems solved one at a time. Seeing players smile and a community connect has made it worth it — and the story is only beginning.
Our journey
From an idea to the UPSL
- 2024
A dream and a group of players
Salem Panthers FC starts as an idea: use soccer to bring people together. The first group is built around players from refugee backgrounds who share one thing — a love for the game.
- 2024
The first roster comes together
Word spreads through the Salem community. Players arrive from Congo, Mexico, Tanzania, Gambia, Guatemala, Venezuela and beyond. Nobody needs a shared language once the ball rolls.
- January 2025
Officially in the UPSL
Salem Panthers FC is accepted into the United Premier Soccer League, competing in the Oregon Conference of the Premier division.
- 2025
A full competitive season
The club completes its first UPSL campaign. Fifteen appearances for the core group, a settled matchday routine and a growing crowd on the sideline.
- 2026
More than a club
Fourteen nationalities in one changing room. The next chapter: a women’s and girls program, youth pathways and deeper community work across Salem.
Media
Matchday, up close
Latest
News from the club
Club Fourteen nationalities, one shirt
Our registered roster now carries players from fourteen different countries. Here is what that actually looks like on a Tuesday night in…
August 2, 2026
Support What your support actually pays for
Field rental, league fees, kit, transport. A plain breakdown of where money goes at a semi-professional club run by its own community.
July 18, 2026Partners
Not a logo on a shirt. A stake in the story.
Salem Panthers FC exists because local businesses believed in a club that had not played a single competitive minute. We are looking for partners in the mission, not names on an invoice.
- 2x Finds Founding Partner
The big message
More than a club. A place to belong.
We want young players to dream. We want girls to have opportunities to play. We want talented players to have a pathway. We want families and supporters to feel connected. This is bigger than soccer — this is about people, opportunity, and Salem.