It’s a scorching hot Saturday at Eagle Field in Rock Hill, S.C., and the Charlotte Independence is taking on the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

Who? What? Why?

That’s the hurdle professional soccer faces in Charlotte, a market that loves football, basketball and stock car racing to the point of fanaticism. The Independence, a first-season expansion team in the United Soccer League, is looking to change that perception. But first things first. They have to grow a fan base – on this night, 1,271 fans show up. They’re diehards, no doubt about it.

As a kid, Zhuvonte Wilson grew up watching the Charlotte Eagles. He’s spending the summer playing forward for the Premier Development League franchise and has seen the local growth firsthand.

“It has changed dramatically as the Independence or our team now and then the Charlotte Eagles as a PDL team, it feels great to be part of PDL Charlotte Eagles that I’ve grown up to watch,” said Wilson, an Ardrey Kell High grad and Charlotte 49ers sophomore. “It feels good playing in front of Charlotte people.”

Pro soccer backers are ambitious about creating a big-league culture here. The game is particularly strong at the youth club level where middle class, suburban families have embraced it. But they’re a niche. The Independence’s strategy is reaching young adults who’ll turn it into a happening. One of the franchise’s first moves was adopting a fan support group, Jack’s Militia, that bring the party to every match.

“Even if you listen to our advertising, we don’t actually promote our product, we promote Jack’s Militia,” Jim McPhilliamy, the Independence’s owner and a former Charlotte Bobcats executive, told WFAE radio on June 10.

The Eagles are more low-key, but just as grass roots oriented.

“I think it’s great having multiple levels of the game here,” Eagles coach Dave Dixon said. “It’s only going to be better. Having the Independence here at the professional level, having us here to fill that gap for guys who are trying to get to that level, it’s only going to give incentives to the youth team players in this area something to shoot for. They can continue to progress up the ladder and as we continue to build a soccer culture. I think maybe we can open up the eyes to MLS and maybe bring MLS here someday as well.”

Major League Soccer is the holy grail on this side of the Atlantic. Although the Independence is minor league, they have big-time aspirations, like major corporate sponsors. The next step is to move to a permanent stadium after spending the inaugural season on college campuses and Ramblewood Soccer Complex, where seating is being expanded to accommodate 4,000 fans.

“Our goal is to get to MLS,” McPhilliamy told WFAE. “Nobody in our investment group expects that we’re going to take money out as a USL team. Everything will get reinvested into making MLS.”

That includes talking with Mecklenburg County officials about a public-private partnership to renovate Memorial Stadium for soccer use. McPhilliamy is also looking to move the Independence’s July 27 match to Bank of America Stadium as part of International Champions Cup match between Paris Saint Germain and Chelsea. While ICC organizers expect a sellout, many of those fans will be from across the U.S. and international. No one expects the Independence to draw that kind of crowd on their own.

“I think it will take some time,” Dixon said. “We have to build some infrastructure from a stadium perspective and I know that’s in the works. I think from a team perspective from a fan culture perspective, from a growth of the game perspective, I think we can get there quicker than people realize.”

Dixon pointed to the success of the MLS Orlando City franchise, which built a following from the ground up after moving from Austin, Texas, as a USL team. That’s Charlotte’s blueprint for getting to the big leagues.

“They built slowly around that 20 to mid-30s culture of people living around the city,” he said. “If we maximize that in Charlotte around that age demographic as well, and then continue to bring in the soccer families (it can work). You need to bring in all levels of fans.

“You have to bring in the young supporter section where they’re standing the whole game jumping and singing and cheering. You have to bring the families that bring their kids out because we want the kids to aspire to that level. But I think we can build a great culture here.”

Especially on scorching hot nights.

Also:

Charlotte Independence finding its way to consistency

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