Everyone has their own origin story, not just super-heroes.

Whether you are a regular average person that lives their day-to-day life, or someone that is a part of a greater project, it all has a backstory of how it came to be.

Potros FC, though a relatively new team to the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) has an origin story that not only sets apart their identity from the rest of the league, but also pays homage to the teams and history that inspired it.

Although Potros FC was founded in 2016, its origin story actually begins many, many years before that. It begins with Luis Uranga, the father of Potros FC Co-founders Christopher and Benjamin Uranga. Luis, a Mexico City native, was exposed to the sport of soccer in his early infant years. Luis recalls his first memory of the sport being when his father would take him to practice sessions at their local field.

“My father tells me that I was sort of their honorary mascot because I was there so often,” said Luis. “I was practically part of the team, they even got me a uniform”.

Luis’ father was so talented and so invested in the sport that he even got invited to play with the Mexican National Soccer Team for the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics, but ended up being cut last minute from the final roster.

As he grew up Luis followed in his father’s footsteps by joining a local youth league, and then at the age of 10 was invited to play with the basic forces of Cruz Azul, a top division football club in Mexico. It was this experience that he says gave him a good winning mentality, because during that time the professional team of Cruz Azul were the best team in Mexico and had won four titles back-to-back.

He stayed with this team until the age of about 13, because his father did not want him to play soccer anymore, which was hard for Luis because he had grown such a love for playing the game. Luis did not play soccer with a team until he about reached the end of high school, when he went back and played with Cruz Azul for a year, and then moved on to join Atlante FC.

However, Luis’ stay with Atlante FC did not last, due to the objection of his father. He told him to focus on school to have a good base for the future because being a soccer player was too unpredictable as he understood well when he got cut from the Mexican National Soccer Team.

“My father wanted me to have a good base for the future, because being a soccer player was too unpredictable. You never know what could get in the way. You could get injured, or the coach might not like you, and then what do you do,” said Luis. “My plan was to continue to play with Atlante FC because the training ground was close to where I lived, and to also continue my studies at school, but I couldn’t. The situation was too hard to manage, I got absolved by schoolwork and lack of money didn’t make it easier. I had to work in order to pay for my studies, so I ended up having to leave the team.”

Upon finishing his studies Luis left Mexico City and came to the United States on vacation where he met his future wife and mother of his children. They got married and five years later had their first son Nicholas. Luis and his wife, Meryl, had a total of four children Nicholas, Rebecca, Christopher, and Benjamin.

Luis shared his passion for the game with his children much as his father did with him. He recalls taking his eldest son Nick to the playground as a toddler and observed as people played soccer on the field, and they invited him to play. As the years went by Luis moved on from playing to refereeing, and much like his father took him to games as an infant, he took his son Nick to the games he refereed as a toddler.

            “There was one game where I took him, and he would follow me up and down the field as the game was going on, he would copy what I would do,” said Luis.

His son Nicolas eventually ended up becoming a FIFA Pro Assistant Referee. The rest of Luis’ children also followed in his footsteps in their love for the game. They played in recreational soccer teams growing up. His sons Nick, Christopher and Benjamin were all at one point captains of their high school soccer team and his daughter Rebecca played soccer all the way through college.

All this collective love for the game is what inspired the younger Uranga brothers to want to continue playing after they graduated high school. When the idea of creating their own team emerged they decided to pay homage to their father’s old team, which they claim is their favorite in the Mexican League, Atlante FC.

The team’s name Potros comes from the Spanish word for “iron colt” which has a special meaning to them as well. They decided to name the team after the mascot of his father’s former club Atlante FC, whose mascot is the iron colt. They thought that it was a good fit for them seeing as how it represents their father’s past and it’s their favorite team, but also decided to make some changes to the logo in order to build a brand for themselves as something new.

The logo for the team and the uniforms was created by Benjamin when he was a sophomore in high school. The logo itself was created to be a part of a business project for school in which it was “Colts Soccer Academy”, then he redesigned it entirely for it to be suitable for the team.

The team’s identity is not only comprised of the love of the sport, but is also influenced by the idea of having a team is obtainable. Meaning that they want to create a culture where anyone can come and play if they wish regardless of the lack of or abundance of resources.

            “It’s sad that there are a lot of players that are still young who want to continue to play, but can’t afford to go into an established academy or to a team at a higher level,” said Luis. “It’s unfortunate because a lot of the times the lack of resources leads players to not get noticed in smaller leagues, though you have a few who make it, most of them don’t.”

Potros FC started off their competitive play in the 2^nd division of the Atlanta District Amateur Soccer League (ADASL) in 2016, and have since then moved on to the United Premier Soccer League. They started off as a team that was motivated by the passion for the sport, and their willingness to want to continue playing, which is still true to this day. But it is a club that is now focused on polishing their talents to not only win their league, but also provide exposure for their players.