As far as sports are concerned, I think most people realize that soccer isn't at the top of the list when it comes to sports in the United States. That's especially the case for Central Indiana, where basketball reigns as King and football and baseball are close behind.
However, that didn't stop a local businessman, Ersal Ozdemir, from bringing in a professional soccer team to Indianapolis. Aptly named in a way to pay homage to both the sport and Indiana history, Indy Eleven is named after the 11 players that make their way onto the pitch, as well as the 11th Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, which fought for the Union Army during the Civil War.
Only going into our 6th season in our young history, we had a record breaking crowd for our home opener against Hartford Athletic with 20,251 fans filling the seats of Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis this past weekend! It was awesome seeing so many fans fill the seats of such a young team, especially being that we aren't in the top soccer league. While the Indy Eleven is actively trying to break into the MLS, we're currently playing in the USL Championship League. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it would give us that much more legitimacy and likely draw in more fans.
While we had a lot of great looks, it was a Hartford own-goal that gave us the 1-0 win, extending our win streak to 2 and giving us a 2019 regular season record of 2-1-0.
We had a ton of fun going to the match and definitely plan on going to some more! I would upload some pictures of the family and game, but unfortunately Steemit is loading all of them in upside down. ???? Maybe next time!
