Why Saying Hello to the Newest Team Hurts So Good
By: Oliver Pulcher, ART & LIFE EDITOR
Lately a lot of people have asked me how I feel about the new MLS team that is coming to St. Louis because of my vested interest in soccer in St. Louis. To be completely honest I have that range from being completely overjoyed to being incredibly saddened by the prospect of an MLS team.
To explain the wide array of emotions I feel, I need to go back to about four years ago. A lot has changed since then. When professional soccer first came to St. Louis, in the form of STLFC, I barely could’ve been classified as a shadow of the person I am now.
Back then, I was a loner. Save for a few friends I occasionally saw in passing at Lindbergh, I barely had any friends back then. I constantly sat alone at lunch, I was never invited to parties, I was never picked in team sports, and I was the definition of a fly on the wall. I made no impacts. The first time I interacted with the Louligans was at a pre-season chant practice. My uncle brought me to this meeting room in Soccer Park. In that room stood a small crowd of people who all seemed to know each other and were practically buzzing with excitement. I felt drawn in, but I stayed in the corner at a random table I found. I didn’t feel comfortable even making eye contact with most of them. But then, two of them approached me. Liz and Jack, two of the capos at the time, walked right up to me and engaged me in a conversation. At the end of this conversation they offered me the opportunity to join them capoing.
My life was changed forever that day. After the first game I ever capoed, Liz pulled me aside and asked if I was okay. I took a look at the person who would come to be one of my greatest mentors, and I broke down. I told her I wasn’t okay. And she talked to me and genuinely listened to everything that I told her was wrong and I felt like a person again. The rest of the Louligans followed after Liz, and they all showed me what it felt like to truly have a family that isn’t blood-bonded.
Since that time four years ago my involvement with the Louligans has increased drastically, both as a capo and as a member of the Louligan family. And with my increase in involvement with the Louligans my success in all other aspects of my life has increased drastically as well. I have become much more confident, I actively take on leadership positions, and I am even looking at successfully transferring to an out-of-state college when I graduate from STLCC in May.
All of this can be attributed to the Louligans. They are my family, and they have supported me both through every good moment, but also through every bad one as well. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without them.
For myself, I know it will be less of a shift. Since I am transferring out of state, I will have to say goodbye to my soccer family sooner than the new team will arrive. And though I know that day won’t arrive for about a year, I also know that the changes in St. Louis soccer will be less obvious to me. Change is inevitable. This is why I am both incredibly happy and sad when considering the arrival of a new team. On the one hand, it will be fantastic for soccer in St. Louis and all the fans of this life changing game. But on the other, it means saying goodbye to STLFC and the corner that my family and I have been in for four years now.
