Backstory: Many of my followers know that prior to embarking on The Soccer Tour, I spent several years working for my local professional soccer club, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers (R.I.P.). Those that have tuned in closely will know that it was the club’s rapid decline that helped set the wheels in motion for my cross-continent journey.

Throughout the Strikers’ tumultuous existence, my office-mate Derek Reese and I would often joke that if the club ever went under, we’d simply start our own club to replace them.

I left to plan The Soccer Tour. The Strikers went under. And Derek started his own club.

They’re called Himmarshee FC, the native Seminole word for the New River that flows through our hometown of Fort Lauderdale. Long story short: the club is an amateur, member-owned operation created and supported by Strikers supporters Flight 19. If you want the whole story, you can find that here.

With the tour completed, I’m back home in sunny (and humid — even more than I remember) South Florida. While on the road, I paid my membership fee to become a co-owner of Himmarshee, and on Sunday, I was able to attend my first match alongside a number of my Fort Lauderdale Strikers family and friends.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Photos property of Steven Bernasconi / The Soccer Tour

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