Minnesota TwinStars FC is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team playing in the Minnetonka High School Stadium,

Minnetonka, Minnesota Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of Minneapolis. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's popu ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Founded in 1997, the team plays in National Premier Soccer League. Prior to the 2004 season, the team was known as the St. Paul TwinStars FC. The Minnesota TwinStars FC historically had a long-standing relationship with the Hmong community in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, along with the African community in suburbs such as Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. In the early stages of the team's history, the dominant ethnic group that played on the TwinStars were Hmong, from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and Minnesota. Midwest (now Midwest-North) division champions two times (2008 and 2009), and National Championship runner-up once (2008), in two NPSL Final Four appearances. History between the TwinStars FC and professional clubs around the world has been strong. Several players have gone on to play professionally in North America and Europe, such as Ismaila Jome, Alex Nyom, Geoffrey Myers, and Liberian international, Ansu Toure. Equatorial Guinean international, Francis Mbome arrived to the Minnesota outfit in 2010 and played with them for two years. The men's team is the senior representative of the Minnesota TwinStars Academy (TSA), which was founded in 2012. The TSA U-16 club was ranked first in Minnesota in 2014, fourth in the region, and 100 nationally in just its second year of existence.

History

Early success

TwinStars was created by Yeng Xiong in late 1997 with elite Hmong players.

2006–2010

The TwinStars have competed for the Midwest title throughout its existence. Their first taste of success was the 2006 season, where one of their players, Igor Stosic, was named to the NPSL Midwest All-Star team. They followed up in the 2007 season, by having two of their players names on the All-Star team; Juan Fiz, and 3-time winner (two with the TwinStars) Igor Stosic. Winning their first Midwest title in 2008, having five of their players named into the Midwest All-Star team, and one of the five, Geoffrey Myers, was named as the 2008 MVP, after scoring 14 goals and five assists in only 12 appearances. Following their triumph in regional competition, the club played in the NPSL Final Four in New York, where they were runners-up in the National tournament. TwinStars FC won the Midwest title again in 2009, this time having four players named to the Midwest All-Star team. Once again having the league MVP, this time being the 5-time All-Star, Igor Stosic, becoming the most decorated TwinStars FC player in history. The 2010 season saw the arrival of Equatorial Guinean international Francis Mbome. The TwinStars placed third of six teams in the Midwest division, having an overall record of 5–3–2. For the third season in a row, they had produced the league MVP, this time being former Liberian national team player Richard Kamara.

Developing years

2011–2013

The 2013 season saw many players from the youth sides advance into the senior team. Seven of the players who regularly started games for the TwinStars were in high school; all coming from Prairie Seeds Academy.

Crest and colors

The club crest has been changed several times, usually featuring a dragon, with two stars above a red and black shield. The current crest, featuring a red dragon in front of the black half of the shield, and a black dragon on the red half of the shield, both clutching a soccer ball with two golden stars (hence the name "TwinStars") above them, is a modified version of one of the first crests, used in 2005.

Stadiums

* James Griffin Stadium; St. Paul, Minnesota (2005–2006) * Macalester Stadium at Macalester College; St. Paul, Minnesota (2007–2009) * Edor Nelson Field at Augsburg University;

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

(2010) * Prairie Seeds Academy; Brooklyn Park, Minnesota (2011–2013) * Mound-Westonka High School; Mound, Minnesota (2014–2015) * Hopkins High School;

(2016) * Minnetonka High School;

(2017–present)

Statistics and records

All-Star Team Players

Africa

* Jules Alex Nyom (2009) * Ansu Toure (2006) * Geoffrey Myers (2008) * Richard Kamara (2008, 2009, 2010) * Adama Diawara (2008, 2009, 2010)

Europe

* Igor Stosic (2005 ith Minnesota Blast">Minnesota_Blast.html" ;"title="ith Minnesota Blast">ith Minnesota Blast 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)

South America

* Juan Fiz (2007, 2008)

Club MVPs

*2008 Geoffrey Myers *2009 Igor Stosic *2010 Richard Kamara

Captains

* Juan Fiz (2006–2007) * Richard Kamara (2008–2011) * Adama Diawara (2012) * Martin Browne (2013–2014) * Karim Darbaki (2014–present)

Current technical staff

''as of 28 April 2015''

Seasonal statistics

Managers

* Youssef Darbaki (2005–present)

Honors

Domestic

* National Premier Soccer League **Midwest Conference: 2008, 2009 **National Final Four: Runner-up (2008)

References

External links

{{Minnesota Sports National Premier Soccer League teams Sports in Minneapolis–Saint Paul Soccer clubs in Minnesota 1997 establishments in Minnesota Association football clubs established in 1997