Tampa Bay Rowdies news - www.tbrowdies.com

Friday, April 3, 2009

TAMPA, FL -- Closing in on less than a year before the new USL Tampa Bay Rowdies begin their inaugural season, interest in the club and ticket deposits are starting to mount.

New and old fans alike gathered at MacDinton's Irish Pub in South Tampa on Wednesday, April 1 for the team's first season ticket holder event. The event also doubled as a watching party for the USA national team's 3-0 World Cup qualifier win over Trinidad and Tobago.

Co-owner and team president Andrew Nestor and technical director Perry Van Der Beck along with other members of the team's staff were on hand for the event.

New Port Richey resident and long-time Rowdies fan Dieter Karnstedt was especially excited to attend the event.

"When I heard they were coming back, I told my wife, 'I need season tickets,' " he said.

The 65-year-old -- who moved to Long Island, N.Y. from Germany in 1969 and then to Tampa in 1976 -- followed the NASL Rowdies from the beginning.

According to Karnstedt, he missed only one game during his time as a fan; which he attributes to having to work overtime on the day of a game at the Odessa-based Collier Safe Company.

He said his favorite moment as a fan was watching team favorite Rodney Marsh moon a ref during a game back in the team's heyday.

"We all had so many fun times," he said in his thick German accent. "I loved the tailgates."

Karnstedt said that the city of Tampa felt like they were a part of that team and that fan interaction and community involvement were at its core. "They were always so involved with youth soccer," he said. "I'm sure the new Tampa Bay Rowdies will do what the old ones did to get involved."

So far, this has been the case as the team's ownership recently announced a partnership with the YMCA that will include youth camps held in conjunction which are already underway.

Robert Woodard, a New Tampa resident, who also followed the team since its inception while attending USF in the mid-1970s, said he became an instant fan of the Rowdies.

Woodard, who coached soccer at Bloomingdale High School in the mid-1990s, remembers how influential the team was on a community that at the time didn't have a professional sports team until the Buccaneers came to town in the fall of 1976.

"It was a social atmosphere," he said. "There was tailgating there before there was tailgating."

He recalled memories of carpooling from USF to the "The Big Sombrero" -- as Tampa Stadium off of North Dale Mabry was then known. After the games he and fellow fans would go to the nearby bar called Boneshakers, where he said many of the Rowdies players would join them.

As a young black man, Woodard said he enjoyed watching Clyde Best -- one of the first post-World War II black players in British football, playing for West Ham United from 1968 to 1976 -- who came over to the U.S. and played for the team during the 1976 season.

Tampa native Chip Thrower is an example of how well the old Rowdies connected with their fans. He served in the military and was stationed in Germany when the team launched, but still kept tabs on the team and finally got to see a game when he moved back into the area in the early 1980s.

"The attendance was way down at that point, but it was exciting to watch and after watching the game in Germany, I felt like I could appreciate it more," he said.

Luke Cardillo, Kevin McLean and Gary Hopper all play in a Tampa-based pickup soccer league together and were at the event to support the new team.

Cardillo runs the league open to adults of all skill levels and within two years, his e-mail list that has grown from 15 members to close to 200.

He says that too many times, soccer in the U.S. is marketed to youth players when in actually it they're missing out on the fan base that the NFL and MLB have capitalized on.

"Everything is geared towards kids," he said. "The untapped market is guys like me; I'm 40."

Events such as this one, Cardillo said, will continue to allow the team to interact with its older fans -- both those familiar with the team and those who are learning about the history of the Rowdies for the first time.

Kevin McLean -- who describes himself as a 52-year-old rookie and joked that he wants to tryout for the team -- is excited for the return of the Rowdies and believes it's the right time for soccer in the area.

"Now all of the kids who grew up with it are at the age where they can buy tickets and bring their own kids," he said.

Hopper said that Tampa is an area yearning for a team to root for and echoed the sentiments of the other fans in attendance.

"I'm thrilled for the Tampa Bay area," he said. "It was a definite loss after professional soccer left. There are so many fans here; our city needs a team."