1996 CHARLESTON BATTERY CHAMPIONS
1996 CHARLESTON BATTERY CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM |
SOCCER PIONEERS | Forging the path for us all
Do you know the feeling? The emotion which swells inside you while photographing something so very special? It has been one of those weeks Last night at The Charleston Battery vs Charlotte match at MUSC Stadium on Daniel Island, it was a emotional ‘Pioneer’s Night’ as fans honored those who gave us our Charleston birth. These 1996 BATTERY CHAMPIONS won fans hearts the first time they stepped on the pitch at Stoney Field in Downtown Charleston… where, as told by Jeff Terry, players had to glean the pitch for broken glass and questionable ‘stuff’ prior to every match. One didn’t drink much at these matches as the restrooms…well, let’s just say, were inhabited with critters you preferred not to drop your pants with much less show your private parts to…hmmm…yeah, it was kinda creepy….anyway, it was ‘the beginning’. . . of something really, really good!
The beginning of something none of us ever knew would grow to be what it is today… These players covered the pitch 3 years prior to MLS being formed in this country…before anyone ever erected a soccer specific stadium…our youth soccer children played ‘pick up ball’ in the grassy areas at Stoney field…like children of the 50’s used to play every day…oh, what a comfortable childhood memorable feeling for parents.
Fans watched…fans loved it! This rough field with players we grew to quickly know became part of our weekly ritual. It was our family’s beginning with our relationship with Patrick Olalare…it continues today…he and Gerard Walker even hung out with our Hungryneck Soccer Team, Colo-Colo with Coaches Barry Darwent and Jim Gregory. “Olalare makes the Boyz Weary”
In the Three Lions Pub Gerald commented how the local soccer community had hung together all these years…had grown. Grown even to the point while Gerald is coaching his own youth soccer team, refs and his former players, like Ben Gregory, are reffing his matches. These folks helped grow soccer to what it has become today! They are PIONEERS! …and YES, They ARE CHAMPIONS!
Read MoreSOCCER PIONEERS | Forging the path for us all
Do you know the feeling? The emotion which swells inside you while photographing something so very special? It has been one of those weeks Last night at The Charleston Battery vs Charlotte match at MUSC Stadium on Daniel Island, it was a emotional ‘Pioneer’s Night’ as fans honored those who gave us our Charleston birth. These 1996 BATTERY CHAMPIONS won fans hearts the first time they stepped on the pitch at Stoney Field in Downtown Charleston… where, as told by Jeff Terry, players had to glean the pitch for broken glass and questionable ‘stuff’ prior to every match. One didn’t drink much at these matches as the restrooms…well, let’s just say, were inhabited with critters you preferred not to drop your pants with much less show your private parts to…hmmm…yeah, it was kinda creepy….anyway, it was ‘the beginning’. . . of something really, really good!
The beginning of something none of us ever knew would grow to be what it is today… These players covered the pitch 3 years prior to MLS being formed in this country…before anyone ever erected a soccer specific stadium…our youth soccer children played ‘pick up ball’ in the grassy areas at Stoney field…like children of the 50’s used to play every day…oh, what a comfortable childhood memorable feeling for parents.
Fans watched…fans loved it! This rough field with players we grew to quickly know became part of our weekly ritual. It was our family’s beginning with our relationship with Patrick Olalare…it continues today…he and Gerard Walker even hung out with our Hungryneck Soccer Team, Colo-Colo with Coaches Barry Darwent and Jim Gregory. “Olalare makes the Boyz Weary”
In the Three Lions Pub Gerald commented how the local soccer community had hung together all these years…had grown. Grown even to the point while Gerald is coaching his own youth soccer team, refs and his former players, like Ben Gregory, are reffing his matches. These folks helped grow soccer to what it has become today! They are PIONEERS! …and YES, They ARE CHAMPIONS!
Judy Davis
on August 29, 2016They are the champions! They are the champions! Hear the chant. Catch the feeling. Share the joy. To see a dream become a reality is one thing. To come together with that dream team again to share victory among friends and fellow players is quite another. Scrolling through your review of faces gives me a sense of belonging, a brotherhood, a springboard into the futures of not one but many proud men. I can feel the intense desire in so many faces alone and together. They wear it well. Victory just looks right on them. They seem to have a commodore, a players unspoken trust in their faces. These are the times when dreams became reality and they all knew they had arrived. Bigger, bolder, with new found determination in remembering those early lean years; yes the price was worth it. Let's hear it for the boys! Twenty years seems like only yesterday and forever. Soccer looks so good on each face. It truly helped mold them into the men they became. What a fellowship!