Earlier today, the Charlotte Independence made a couple of announcements surrounding their #MovingToMatthews campaign… which got me just a little bit excited. Okay, that’s a lie: I got really excited!

The first announcement was pretty simple: a new sponsor partnership with Chick-fil-A. Good, but not all that exciting. At least it wasn’t exciting until they rolled out a second announcement… the Grand Opening of Matthews Sportsplex presented by Chick-fil-A!

This event will coincide with the team’s first game at their new home on Saturday June 17th against the Harrisburg City Islanders and will feature tailgating, live music, food trucks and fireworks after the game. That’s a little something for everyone to enjoy, not to mention the soccer on the field!

The grand opening event is the first in what the Independence are calling a “Celebration of Soccer,” which (according to the press release) will be…

“A season celebrating soccer played at every level and converge a city, county and region through soccer. The Charlotte Independence stand on the shoulders of the 1981 American Soccer League Champions — Carolina Lightnin’, Charlotte Eagles, local Youth Clubs, High Schools and College Soccer culminating in your current and only professional soccer team. Over the course of this season, we hope to showcase those stories of “celebration” through exemplary tradition and excellence.”

If this doesn’t excite you, I don’t know what will!

After a few months of bouncing around venues, it sounds like the Independence have a big summer and fall planned with this campaign, and I look forward to seeing how they implement the “Celebration of Soccer” into the rest of this season.

The Independence have gotten a lot wrong in their short history, but I think #MovingToMatthews is a chance for them to get a fresh start. Our editor thinks so too: he wrote this back in February when SNST was first launched…

And many from our staff can’t wait for June 17th.

Some of you may be skeptical, and that’s fine. I’ll gladly camp out in the neighborhood of excited as hell! I see this as the perfect way for the club to establish a new identity off the field and for fans new and old to discover a love for the Independence that could see them write the next chapter in Charlotte soccer history. Cheers to new beginnings, Jacks!