The genesis for Ethio LA Stars Soccer Club ca be traced to those Ethiopian players who were instrumental in putting UCLA on the North American soccer map in the late 1960's and early 1970's.  After finishing their collegiate careers, Fisseha WoldeEmanuel, Yaregal GebreYesus, Tekeda Alemu, Solomon Terfa, Shewangizaw Agonafir, Girma Belay and a  few other from the Ethiopian Community in Westwood started a tradition of playing soccer on Friday afternoons.  Due to the limited number of Ethiopians in the Los Angeles area in those days, these games had more of an international rather than a national flavor.

     The games then included players from other African countries, the Middle East, Latin American, and Europe.  Within a short period of time, some from the above group added Tamrat Asfaw, Adem Mohamed, the late Zerihun Tadesse, Milliion GebreYesus and others, Creating more or less a proto-club that played soccer on a regular basis with an Ethiopian flavor.  At about the same time, across town at USC a group of Ethiopians had started playing semi-organized soccer.  Fisseha, Gebre, Addis Hagos, Mekonen Girma, Wossen Mengiste, Afework Tesfatsion, Sirak Seifu, Moges Araya, Steve Teshome and Bemnet Gaim were the main driving forces behind this venture.

     Talking amongst themselves, the two groups decided to combine their forces and play together on a weekly basis once the UCLA group had secured a regular playing field on the UCLA campus.

     The positive atmosphere created by this merger became the cornerstone for the solidification and growth of our organization.  The late 1970's and 1980's witnessed the unprecedented heights to which our organization grew.  Every Saturday afternoon, our club fielded four teams (with reserves to boot!) that played year-round of exciting and competitive soccer.  The year-round games were capped by a tournament amongst the four teams that produced a champion at the end.  These annual championship tournaments were eagerly awaited both by the players and the Los Angeles Ethiopian Community at large.  Fans and invited guests numbered in the hundreds, making it one of the largest gatherings of Ethiopians for any event in Los Angeles.

     In 1983, Fisseha WoldeEmanuel proposed a program to our organization that would take a selection of players from our club to Washington D.C. for a soccer match, with a promise that the Washington D.C. team will come for a return match to Los Angeles.  Despite the fact that we had a strong organization that conducted year-round soccer tournaments,  the majority felt it was not a workable proposition.   However , with the force of the promise of the return match realized; thus laying a firm building block for the establishment of ESFNA a few months later; and significant role in the formation of the Federation, Fisseha was elected the 1st president of ESFNA and served for several years.

     The Ethio LA Stars Soccer Club which had such humble beginnings has grown to be one of the strongest clubs within the federation, contributing its. share and basking in its earned glory.

     In the federation's Annual Tournament, Ethio LA Stars has made its presence felt by earning 3rd place in 1985, 2nd place in 1997 and 1998, and 1st place in 1986, 1988, 2006 and 2007.