If you build it, will they come?
When it comes to Chester and pro soccer, that is still to be determined.
But if you hold a press conference to celebrate the official groundbreaking for the new stadium that will be home for the region’s new Major League Soccer franchise, you can rest assured the Sons of Ben will be there.
For those of you not yet infected with soccer fever, the Sons of Ben (who take their name from Ben Franklin) are the manic soccer booster organization that is in large part responsible for professional soccer coming to the region.
Yesterday’s groundbreaking ceremony in the shadow of the Commodore Barry Bridge in Chester was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The Sons of Ben decided to show up a tad earlier.
They were in place just after the sun game up at 7 a.m. to literally kick off pro soccer in the region with a morning tailgate party.
And yes, that’s them gracing the front page of the print edition of the newspaper today, in full Sons of Ben regalia, including banners declaring Kick Start Chester.
These zealots are more than just another band of soccer fanatics, however. Yesterday, for the second straight year, they were collecting food for the Bernardine Center in Chester.
They’re also putting their money where their scarves are.
The group already has generated more than 3,000 season ticket sales on their own. They actually will be getting a full section of the stadium to call their own. Total season ticket sales have now gone over 5,000.
That leaves a pretty good chunk of seats that still need to be filled.
Still, the mood along the Chester waterfront was upbeat yesterday.
Mayor Wendell Butler hailed the occasion. “Chester is on the way back,”
he proclaimed.
For Bryan James, head of the Sons of Ben, it was the culmination of more than two years of work.
“This makes it all real,” Bryan said. “Once the stadium is a reality, that’s where we’re going to be playing.”
The truth is, these guys are as real as it gets.
If you build it, will they come? That’s easy enough to answer for James and his buddies.
Now the question is whether the rest of the region will climb on board.
When it comes to Chester and pro soccer, that is still to be determined.
But if you hold a press conference to celebrate the official groundbreaking for the new stadium that will be home for the region’s new Major League Soccer franchise, you can rest assured the Sons of Ben will be there.
For those of you not yet infected with soccer fever, the Sons of Ben (who take their name from Ben Franklin) are the manic soccer booster organization that is in large part responsible for professional soccer coming to the region.
Yesterday’s groundbreaking ceremony in the shadow of the Commodore Barry Bridge in Chester was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The Sons of Ben decided to show up a tad earlier.
They were in place just after the sun game up at 7 a.m. to literally kick off pro soccer in the region with a morning tailgate party.
And yes, that’s them gracing the front page of the print edition of the newspaper today, in full Sons of Ben regalia, including banners declaring Kick Start Chester.
These zealots are more than just another band of soccer fanatics, however. Yesterday, for the second straight year, they were collecting food for the Bernardine Center in Chester.
They’re also putting their money where their scarves are.
The group already has generated more than 3,000 season ticket sales on their own. They actually will be getting a full section of the stadium to call their own. Total season ticket sales have now gone over 5,000.
That leaves a pretty good chunk of seats that still need to be filled.
Still, the mood along the Chester waterfront was upbeat yesterday.
Mayor Wendell Butler hailed the occasion. “Chester is on the way back,”
he proclaimed.
For Bryan James, head of the Sons of Ben, it was the culmination of more than two years of work.
“This makes it all real,” Bryan said. “Once the stadium is a reality, that’s where we’re going to be playing.”
The truth is, these guys are as real as it gets.
If you build it, will they come? That’s easy enough to answer for James and his buddies.
Now the question is whether the rest of the region will climb on board.
Comments