I got involved in soccer when I was 6 years old when I started playing and played until I was 14. And I've always watched it. When I heard we were getting a team I started going to events and stuff like that, and met everyone. Made good friends with Corey and Bryan, and weaseled my way into Capoing from there.

 

 Went to a game in 2011 on a whim and fell in love

 Soccer has come to represent more than just a sporting event for me; it's infiltrated every aspect of my life. After that first game we joined the Sons of Ben, but didn't have season tickets in the River End until 2014. Halfway through the season we decided to go to our first away game (Toronto), which happened to be the 'big trip' for many members of the Bearfight Brigade. The email about the trip said that instead of getting tickets sent to us, or picking them up the box office, one of the members of the Brigade would be handing them out at a get together they were having before the match. I used to be a lot more socially anxious, so going to a hotel room full of about 20 people who all knew each other made me feel borderline terrified. My husband helped me get up my nerve, and we finally stopped by. It was loud, everyone was drinking and having a good time, and there was me, without a clue as to who had the tickets, just standing there feeling awkward and nervous. That feeling lasted a matter of seconds before I was greeted, people introduced themselves to me, and I had a drink in my hand. It seems silly now, but I was blown away by a group of strangers sharing their drinks with an absolute stranger who showed up empty handed. We went to the game and had a blast, and they even invited us to meet up at a bar later that evening. We were unable to go, but I really appreciated that they thought to include "the new guys". 

Fast forwarding to today, it's much easier to sum up what soccer means to me with the Bearfight Brigade's slogan: Loyalty Inclusion Family Pride. It's a bit idealistic, but still something I strive for. Inclusion is the most life-altering bit for me -- over the years I've gone from scared to death to introduce myself to new people to having no problem whatsoever walking up to "the new guy" to make them feel as welcome as I did that first day. I never expected that I'd be so comfortable around people, and the degree to which that has changed my life can't be overstated. 

Ryan and the Men's World Cup

Soccer is like any sport with me, it's the time of the week that I get to spend with friends and family and not think about anything else in the world. I can go to the match and scream, chant and just go crazy for 90 + minutes with everyone else and support my team to victory. 

Joe (left)

So I got into soccer, as oddly as it sounds from FIFA the video game, not directly, my family is from Belgium so I've always drifted towards soccer but I became fanatical through playing thousands of games of Fifa. I learned almost every player in the world without realizing it and before I knew it I was watching AC Milan on Gol TV for hours. I’d watch Shevchenko play the same game 3 times in a week.

 I stay with it because the union and the people who show up to each match have become my family. If I were to get married tomorrow my bridal party would consist mainly of union friends. That was the last thing I expected when I walked drunkenly into the Linc in 2010. And that it was so unexpected is why I think it means so much. 

Jeffrey (right)

I got involved in soccer at around age 7.  My Dad had recently died and my Mom was looking into ways to keep my Brother and I focused on something other than that.  She signed me up for Baseball and Soccer.  Soccer was the one that really won me over, but my neighborhood and friends were more into baseball so I pursued that.  It was also the mid 80's in America so soccer was possibly the least cool thing you could possibly ever do.  Peer pressure can be a game changer at that age.  

Soccer came into my life in a big bad way again when I was about 14/15 when the USA was set to host the World Cup and there was going to be a league set up again in the States in 1996.  Without a team in the States to follow I looked to the birthplace of the game.. ENGLAND.  In 1994 I was very into music and through my favorite band at the time Oasis I heard about this team Manchester City Football Club who had the misfortune of being neighbors to one of the winningest clubs.  They were the little club in the shadows constantly battling relegation while having to live side by side with a team that kept winning trophies.  That fanbase struck a chord with me.  It reminded me of being a Philly fan in the shadows of New York and DC.  Their fanbase also had the best sense of humor often bringing inflatable bananas and singing their famous "were not really here" chant.  I was instantly hooked and it was in the early days of the internet so I heavily relied on AOL Chat rooms and overpriced import magazines from the UK to follow the team.  It helped me develop online friendships with people in Manchester I still hold to this day. 

I was late in the game to hear about a group named the Sons of Ben bringing a team to Philly, but when I did I was all in to do as much as I could.  I bought season tickets for year one and a before the 1st season was over I had named my son Benjamin Franklin Mitchell in their honor.  By season two I was volunteering as Social Media Director and in season seven I am now the Vice President. I have always loved soccer and though I stepped away from it for a while I am glad we found each other again. God bless the beautiful game! 

Like almost everyone that I've met, I played soccer briefly when I was a kid but didn't stick with it. It wasn't until I was given free tickets from a previous job that I ever made it out to a Union game. As far as all of the major sports we have here in the US, I found that I enjoyed the atmosphere and the type of people that were at the Union games the most. I couldn't help but be fascinated by the Sons of Ben during that first match, and a few weeks later, I stood with them. It's been awesome ever since.

Soccer is a sport that truly transcends boundaries and brings people together. My favorite part about soccer is that it has the ability to unify people. Take the Sons of Ben, or another supporters group as an example. In the same crowd you will have doctors, salespeople, retail clerks, engineers, and other people from all types of life coming together for the sake of unity. Outside of match-day, these people might have never met or interacted with one another due to how different their lives are. In no other sport have I seen the unified vision of support, such as tifo, and I'd like to think that's because of the type of people you'll meet at these games.

 I've always been a fan of the game and a lousy player. I hate running.  Outside of being a fan I got fully involved in the sport when I moved to the Philly area and saw these guys marching past my lab in Hahnemann hospital I later found out we're called the Sons of Ben. 

Fast forward to the inaugural year. I was in an abusive relationship and at an all time low with a man who wanted nothing more than for me to stay at home. But some colleagues of mine took me to a game. At the game, a group of girls came up to me and said "you'd be perfect to join us, we're the Molly's and we work for the team". 

So despite his wishes I checked them out and started attending a few games as a Molly.  It was empowering and it brought me back to why I loved the sport. I met the players and interacted with other fans. It was my escape. It was because of some of those people I met & came to know that I left my ex and continued to work for the team, and now as the President of their SG the same group of crazy people who years prior had marched past my window to create this team. 

 

 soccer for me has been empowering. It's a sport anyone can play. It's cheap. You need a ball, a makeshift goal, and a relatively flat surface although kids in my neighborhood will find anywhere to run around. 

It's accessible and its universally known. A soccer ball anywhere in the world is an invitation to get a pick up game going no matter how athletically inclined or inept you are. In traveling around to different countries, it's an open invitation to join in. 

The bigger part for me has been the players. Players from around the world mixing and intermixing on teams. Or playing their heart out for their nation of origin. 

While men's soccer may be more popularly followed, women's soccer holds a special place for me. Who doesn't remember Brandi Chastain ripping her kit off in an epically emotional celebration after her goal during the World Cup?  Unless you weren't born it's forever sealed in your memory. Or watching Mia Hamm. These women who paved such a remarkable path and continue to do so today. 

We've seen the USWNT grow exponentially this past 4yrs and the mark these women have made as individuals continues to keep my allegiance to the sport. They've brought out the best in what this sport has to offer. Empowerment. Fair play. A voice for women in sports. A role in professional sports. Soccer is a game that evens the playing field for all because of its accessibility. You can be anyone and be a soccer player. You can have it all or nothing and still be a soccer player.  To me it's a game where you can find a place for everyone. 

Soccer wasn't a thing in the area where I grew up; I only played it in gym class, and occasionally saw some on tv. But when I was on a trip to Italy in 1989, I saw a lot of Italia '90 promotion for the upcoming World Cup, and I started getting more into it. I could go on and on about how I learned more and got further exposed to the game....

What soccer means to you.
Soccer means a lot of things to me. It's a world game, so I can talk about it and enjoy it with virtually anyone, anywhere. In fact, I have a friend in Vietnam whom I met by playing a game app. It's almost a universal language that connects people from not only across borders, but genders, age groups, social strata, etc. I've made some great friends at games and it's allowed me to enjoy it even more. In fact, some of my closest friends these days are "soccer friends" who have become much more.

Soccer is also a game that almost anyone can play. Yes, there's skill and innate talent that's required to perform and succeed at the highest levels, but In the wider sense, it's an accessible sport that once you start playing, you want to keep going. I vividly remember getting into a pickup game on a hallway during my college freshman orientation weekend. I didn't know the rules for being a goalkeeper, but has a blast. I made friends that I wound up keeping for the next four years (and in a couple cases, beyond).

I'm at the point now where I couldn't imagine soccer not being in my life. I'm a season ticket holder, supporter group member and leader, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I grew to love the game, and it's a relationship that has only grown stronger.

I got involved with soccer in October 2014 when I went to my first Union game. My best friend has always been passionate about it so I decided to check out a match with another friend. After the 2014 season was over, I decided I wanted to go to more matches in the Spring of 2015. Once the spring hit, I started helping a friend paint Tifo for the Union. It was an incredible experience to be able to watch what I helped work on go up over the River End at the beginning of the matches. My best friend and I even began taking pictures of the Tifo to show off what the Sons of Ben, the supporters group, was doing for the Union. It didn't take long before I truly felt like I was part of the Sons of Ben family. Everyone welcomed me with open arms and were always willing to share a drink (or three). The Sons of Ben have become a family to me and I have made some truly incredible friends and memories over the course of the last year. I'm so thankful I took the plunge to try something new about a year ago. Sometimes it's okay to jump off a bridge because your friend told you to... or in my case, paint Tifo for all hours of the day/night because your friends asked. You never know what will come from it. Thanks, Tess, for making me jump off the bridge.

 It all goes back to my college days. I attended Albright College in Reading, PA and I had a bunch of friends and Fraternity Brothers who were on Albright's soccer teams (men's and women's). We used to go to the home matches we could to cheer them on and to mock the opposing team. Since our colors were red and white, someone had created the name "Red Tide" for our fan group. We sang a few songs, did a few chants, but mostly taunted the opposing team. The other Albright fans enjoyed it and got a good laugh from it all. At the same time my one roommate was a big Manchester United supporter and would wake up at 8 am on Saturdays just to watch them play, so I started watching with him, learned a bunch of songs, he would be singing them all the time, had posters on his side of the room, flags, etc., so that was my introduction to the Barclay's Premiere League and professional soccer. I continued to watch after that and would tune into ESPN2 on Thursday nights before going out and watch whatever was the MLS match (pre Union days). Then while living in Reading, I was home for Easter and my parents saved this paper that had a small article about this group called the Sons of Ben and getting an MLS team in Philadelphia. Since then, I looked it up online and followed closely with the progress, and the rest is history.

 

Soccer has become a big part of my life since 2010, essentially taking most of my free time, and a good chunk of my not so free time. After following the progress of the Sons of Ben, and seeing where the Union's stadium was going to be built, I knew I had to be there. I joined the SoBs and put my deposit down for season tickets (even though I was barely making enough to get by as it was). I remember I was on my way to north Jersey with a friend and her "little brother" from the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program when I got the call from the Union about picking my seats, where I ended up getting a front row seat in section 135 of the River End. It was just one ticket - all I could afford, and I didn't know anyone else interested in going. Next thing I know, I was going to the Season Ticket Holder stadium tours and meeting a few of the players, eating a Union shield soft pretzel and knowing this place was gonna be something special. I started randomly showing up to different SoB events and away match viewing parties at the Dark Horse Pub off of South Street, still not knowing anybody. The more I went, the more I got involved, the more I got hooked. I was driving down from Reading for every home match, going to DC and Red Bull away, and the U at Columbus Crew for the last match of the first season I then was looking for a new job closer to Chester because I knew I didn't want to miss a match or anything. But I ended up taking a job in East Stroudsburg by the Poconos, but still drove down for every single Union home match until the transmission in my car started to go - then I was taking a Greyhound bus that was a 3 hour bus trip every time into Philly. I would think of chants and songs on the long rides, it kept me sane. I spent the majority of my vacation days on Union matches. Eventually I found a job much closer to the stadium, making life much easier. I got really involved in the SoBs by helping with tifo - showing up on Saturday or Sunday mornings at the Teber Lot to help draw it out before painting. We would listen to Steel Panther and draw out whatever idea it was for the big overheads (there were a few inside jokes that emerged from these painting parties that ended up in the tifo as well, it's shocking but you can still find them if you look hard enough). I was poised to take over the tifo spot on the SoB Board until Brad Youtz was stepping down as the Philanthropy Director and some people found out that I was a professional fundraiser, so I was asked to take over that role. I've been doing our philanthropic duties - fundraisers and volunteer opportunities for about three years now. 

I've dedicated a lot of time, sweat and money to making the biggest impact our group can have on the Delaware Valley. 

During my seven plus years being involved in the Union and SoBs, I've spent thousands of dollars on tickets, gas, merchandise, food, memberships, paint, tattoos, and everything in between. I've met people who turned out to be great, met great people who turned out to be fake, met the love of my life, outsiders, cool kids, losers, world class champions, freaks, geeks, friends, foes and people I can call family. I've endured countless insults and criticism for everything I've done - yet I still show up and put in the work. This sport has given me euphoric highs, heart breaking lows and every emotion in the middle. So what does soccer mean to me? Everything. Soccer has been my life since 2010.

I grew up playing soccer. It seemed like pretty much every kid in my town and the neighboring towns played soccer, whether it be rec leagues, travel teams, or just pick up games in fields, parks, or on streets. I followed teams and would watch soccer whenever I could but never "supported" a team until the Philadelphia Union came along. My family got season tickets for my dad's birthday in 2009. Being the closest to the games, I would go to every one and bring friends along when my family couldn't make it. I fell in love being able to watch soccer in person on a regular basis and the team that allowed me to do so. From their I joined the supporters group, Sons of Ben, and would travel to away games and become more and more involved with the team and group.

 

The most meaningful thing about soccer is the community that it can build. The people that you play or watch with become your family. You can't help but to build strong relationships with the people around you. It's from the passion that the sport commands. If you are playing, you are pushing yourself and your teammates to always do better. If you are watching and supporting, you feel like you are an extension of your team. When they win, you win. And win the lose, you lose. Teams and their supporters groups all around the world come together to better the communities in which they play and live. Along with the passion, there is a great sense of pride in your team, community, and family.