A Somali Refugee Built a Soccer Club to Keep Young Refugees on the Field, Not the Streets

Abdi Iftin arrived in Salt Lake City as a Somali refugee in 2005 and found his footing, in part, on the soccer field at East High School. Years later, he built that same footing for others: Future FC, a club he founded for young refugees and immigrants now competing in the United Premier Soccer League.

The roster reads like a map of displacement — players originally from Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda, Congo, South Sudan, Venezuela, and Mexico. But Future FC is built to be more than a team. Alongside matches and practices, Iftin runs workshops on job hunting, career and technical-school guidance, and mental health support, offering a constructive alternative to the drugs, violence, and gang pressure many young refugees encounter after resettlement.

What started as one man’s own path through a new country has become a structured, supportive off-ramp for the next generation of Utah’s refugee youth — proof that a team can be a lifeline as much as a game.