2020 Year In Review

By: Dave Wasiolek

Nashville Soccer Supporters Trust                                             

2020 Year in Review

A tumultuous 2020 is coming to a close. Between the disastrous spring tornados, the most serious worldwide health crisis in 50 years, and a volatile election year this has been a “time to try men’s souls.” Still, with multiple vaccines hitting the shelves and businesses slowly reopening, we can embrace the hope that this season of storms is fading and 2021 will bring a return to the normal heartbeat of daily life in Nashville.

While we look forward to a fresh start in the new year it is good to pause, look back and take stock of how we weathered the trials of this difficult season. I am proud to say that when the thunder clouds rolled over the horizon to darken Nashville’s path, you - our members - and your Trust stood with others to light lamps to throw back the shadows.

January:

Starting in January the Trust began publishing a new series of stories following up on the lives/soccer journeys of 5 former NFC players. Each of these players (Liam Collins, Hector Cantele, Kyle McLagan, Nick Melville, and Hayden Coffman) have gone on to exciting new chapters in their lives. Some are now playing professionally in Europe while others have gone into coaching or become highly successful entrepreneurs. But wherever their paths have taken them they all have one thing in common: their fond memories of NFC and the positive impact the experience of playing in Nashville had on their lives. Each of their stories can be found on the NSST website.

February:

In 2020, the Roadies took over management of Soccer for the Nations and re-organized it into Kickin’ It 615. The mission of Kickin’ It 615 is to “provide the opportunity and support for children to learn and play the game of soccer regardless of their economic status or cultural background”.​​​ This mission matches up well with the Trust’s own mission and so when the new organization reached out seeking sponsors for teams in their youth leagues the Trust was more than happy to lend a helping hand by contributing $1,000 to cover the costs of all registration fees equipment and training gear for a team.

This was only part of the good news in February, as on the last day of the month the Trust joined with 59,000 of our best friends to celebrate NSC’s opening night in MLS.

March:

There is an old saying that March comes in like a lion. This year carried that to the extreme when on March 2nd and 3rd tornados chewed a path through the homes and businesses of our friends and neighbors throughout Davidson and Wilson counties. One of the places hit hard was the Wilson United Soccer League facility. This facility serves over 1,000 children in Wilson County and was devastated by the storms. Faced with the massive task of clearing the damage the call went out for help and immediately The Trust, The Back Line, TSSA, NSC, and many others from across the whole gambit of the Nashville soccer family showed up to begin the process of rebuilding.

March was also the start of the High School soccer season and intercity schools with stretched budgets often do not have the resources to meet all their needs. As such, when one of our members, Brian Cordova, reached out to the Trust to see if we could assist in supporting the Pearl Cohn High School soccer program the Trust was there. Inspired by the selfless efforts of two young teachers who were trying to rebuild the program, The Trust agreed to provide all of the training equipment, warmup jackets and soccer balls for the team.

Finally, the Trust has always been a proud supporter of women’s soccer and once again this year we provided support to Nashville’s representative in the Women Premier Soccer League - The Nashville Rhythm.

2nd Quarter:

Unfortunately, as the 2nd quarter began the entire world came to a crashing halt as COVID reached its tentacles into every aspect of people’s lives. The MLS season hit pause as soon as it started and high school and other amateur soccer leagues evaporated like morning mist on a hot July day. As the nation and Nashville tried to figure things out, the Trust helped educate our members on how to navigate these seas by running a series of articles from the perspective of The Coach, The Player, The Supporter, and The Trainer on how each of them were dealing with COVID and the resulting restrictions.

3rd Quarter:

As the quarter began very little was happening on our local pitches as Nashville and the nation learned to live with partial shutdowns and a virtual existence. Still, the world moved on.  In July, Chris Ferrell agreed to take on the role of Vice President of The Trust. Chris is a publisher in Nashville but more important to the Nashville soccer community he was the former President of NFC for the last year of its existence and a critical player in the NFC to NSC transition. We are very fortunate that he agreed to take on the expanded role.

Also during this timeframe, the Trust worked to tighten up its intellectual property rights for both NSST and NFC. We had a violation of these rights earlier in the year and our new and improved position will make it easier to defend our property in the future.

In addition, during the quarter, the Trust held its second merchandise sale. New additions to this year’s sale included NSST branded items, (hats, polos, and stickers), as well as the game-worn, fan designed, NFC jerseys from 2016. The sale was well-received and the proceeds will go toward funding future worthy projects throughout our community.

Finally, as the calendar flipped to August a faint perfume of hope, like honeysuckle in the spring, wafted through the air as our beloved NSC restarted their inaugural season to loud, if virtual, cheers from their family of fans.

4th Quarter:

As 2020 careened toward a merciful end, dawn began to break on our night of storms. Promising vaccines were developed with unheard of speed, the stock market recovered and NSC completed a dream season that saw them not only make the playoffs but win their first 2 rounds. Meanwhile NSC ownership and management reached out to the Trust and connected us with Matt Bonadies (a former MTSU football player and lover of soccer). Matt, now a general contractor, wanted to increase access for children to play soccer and the Trust stepped up to help him realize his vision by providing assistance to build a mini-pitch at Tom Joy elementary school in East Nashville. (You can find out more about Matt and this project on the NSST website.)

2020 was a trying year. The health and financial challenges faced by our members, friends, and families have been severe. They have tested our courage and resolve. But as Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength”. I want to thank each and every one of our members for the daily common place courage and decency you showed this year. There will be no parades for you, but your everyday efforts and consideration for your neighbors are what made all the difference.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and most certainly a Happy New Year.

Best regards

Dave

David Wasiolek

Nashville SC Supporters Trust President