There are few things that Serbians love more than soccer. Even if family, religion, tradition, and nation come first, for Serbians, soccer can bind them all together. It is that love for Soccer that prompted several Serbian immigrants in Akron, OH to start a soccer team in 1998. Most of them were refugees fleeing war-torn Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, seeking sanctuary from the terrible conflict that afflicted the Balkans in the 1990s. It was soccer, along with family and church, which helped these refugees rebuild their lives in the United States.

And what better way to connect their lives in America to their homeland than name their soccer team after their national hero Gavrilo Princip, venerated by Serbians as a freedom fighter who fought to liberate all Balkan peoples from colonial rule. For Serbian Americans, Gavrilo represents the fight for survival after the war, and the pursuit of happiness in America. That is the spirit with which Danijel Trifkovic puts on his captain armband and leads FK Gavrilo Princip to the field. That is the spirit that makes them a tough team to beat and that led them to win the 2020 Akron Premier League Championship.

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