Chelsea-Wrexham game, NC Courage success help build Triangle’s soccer culture
Molly Pendleton loved the Triangle so much, she didn’t want to leave. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, Pendleton moved back into her childhood home — in Chapel Hill.
Pendleton, who initially thought she’d make a career in finance, also loved soccer. She played the sport almost her entire life, and eventually combined her passions to bring one of the biggest events in Kenan Stadium history to life.
Pendleton, the head of touring at Eventellect Unified Ticketing, was a major contributor in bringing the FC Series to Chapel Hill in July. Chelsea FC and Wrexham AFC faced off in an exhibition match — the first of its kind at Kenan Stadium — and drew tens of thousands of soccer fanatics to a legacy football stadium for well, futball. Pendleton watched as the town she fell in love with celebrated the sport she’s cherished her whole life.
Among the screaming hooligans and avid soccer fans were thousands of Triangle-area youth soccer players with front-row seats to a “once in a lifetime” chance to watch Premier League on U.S. soil. That there is such a strong soccer culture here is one of the reasons the match came to fruition, but not lost on anyone involved is the legacy bringing events like this to a region can leave.
“It can be a fantastic spectacle,” Wrexham FC manager Phil Parkinson said after the match July 19. “I think it showed here today, with 50,000 people turning up.”
Pendleton’s work with the FC Series and its visit to Chapel Hill underscores the continuing impact of the NC Courage, North Carolina Football Club and NCFC Youth in the region.
Longstanding traction
The soccer bug made its home in the Triangle even before the exponential interest in the U.S. National Teams. Pendleton said so much of the decision to host the FC Series in Chapel Hill this summer was because a well-engaged soccer community already exists.
“I think it was kind of a perfect storm of having Chelsea, which is a huge English club with a massive fan base here in the Triangle,” Pendleton said. “We saw a massively positive response to them being here, and participating in the different events.”
With the NWSL’s NC Courage and USL League 1 (soon to be USL Championship) side NCFC heavily embedded in the area, and the NCFC Youth program growing, there were already a large number of kids involved in soccer.
Katharine Eberhardt, chief marketing and development officer for NCFC Youth, said it was almost like they didn’t need to advertise the FC Series match — the kids already knew they wanted to go.
“I think our soccer market demands it and people want it,” Eberhardt said. “There is a market here and people love soccer. And I think that showed in that Chelsea-Wrexham game.”
But flashy events, player signings and team announcements aren’t the only reason youth soccer is growing.
Access is greater, and there is a level for everyone. The thousands of kids that sign up for soccer have the option to choose the level of involvement that fits them best, ranging from a recreational, after-school team to a college/professional development pipeline.
“Similar to all those other sports, soccer is a pay-to-play model,” she said. “And if that’s not attainable for your family, then we have avenues for anyone to apply for financial aid, to make sure that everyone has access to be able to participate.”
One of Pendleton’s goals in bringing the FC Series to Chapel Hill was to give back to the soccer community she fell in love with, as a kid and in college.
She did that, and said it’s just the start of what can be done to keep soccer growing in North Carolina.
“It’s a dream come true to have a match at Kenan and for it to be as successful as it was,” she said. “and to be able to experience it, to know the impact that it had on the community has been incredibly special throughout this entire process.”
