Louisville City FC does game day right

@haleysimpKSR

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Photo by: Bee Buck Photography[/caption]

Two weeks ago I had never attended a Louisville City FC game at Louisville Slugger Field.

Now, I wouldn’t miss one for the world.

I’ve spent all 21 years of my life attending games in Commonwealth Stadium and Rupp Arena. I never once thought I would find a group of people that love their team as much as the 61,000 and 24,000 that pack into those venues each week, but I did.

I’m currently in the middle of spending my summer as a media relations intern for LouCity, and I spent last night’s match against Pittsburgh on the field and in the crowd taking pictures and video. The excitement and love for the team is something I have never before seen.

Ten minutes before kickoff, the team’s supporters, including a large group called The Coopers, march along the stadium’s concourse to their section banging on drums and chanting. And for the next hour and half, they don’t stop. I got exhausted just watching these guys. They spent the entire 90 minutes cheering at the top of their lungs, jumping around, setting off purple and yellow smoke bombs after each goal and, yes, banging on their drums. Their energy is infectious throughout all of Slugger Field.

What’s more remarkable than the love for this team from the fans is how it is reciprocated from the players. Having spent the last five weeks with this team, I’ve seen first hand how much they care about the city of Louisville, their fans and each other. They’ll sign an autograph for every kid lined up with a poster and pen until they’re all gone, and they’ll take every picture for every fan who waits outside their locker room after each game. And trust me, it’s not a small number.

I knew I was going to get great experience going into this internship, but I didn’t know it was going to be an absolute blast working on a Saturday night — and the crowd was having way more fun than I was.

If you’ve never been to a LouCity game, you seriously don’t know what you’re missing out on. Fill the void of summer months without college sports and head on out to a game. Get tickets at a discounted price for KSR readers here by using promo code KSR.