2016 was a whirlwind year with many low and high moments. No matter what kind of year you had, 2016 was a little better if you were in Cincinnati. We all witnessed firsthand the birth and first steps of our professional soccer team. We met new friends and experienced soccer like never before in this city. So now that the year is over, I asked the guys to look back and give me their favorite moment of 2016.

Bryan Weigel – Favorite Moment of 2016: Pre-game before Xavier Friendly

Friday, March 18th was the first day where I got to meet many new people who would become my friends while we embarked on the magical inaugural season of FC Cincinnati. Many supporters met pre-game at the Listermann Brewing Co to have some beers before the match. All of us in attendance thought that this was a great turnout. Little did we know that it was extremely small in comparison to the rest of the season. Brad, Yosief, Michael and I all got to meet for the first time and then we cheered on FC Cincinnati for the first time. I will never forget that moment. It was my true beginning with the Blurange and I can’t wait to tell my kids that I was there with 2,000 of my closest friends.

Nick Seuberling – Favorite Moment of 2016: My First March to the Match

This is my favorite moment for a few reasons. First off, it was my first time watching a match from The Bailey. Secondly, it was amazing to have fans of CST come up to me at Mecks and tell me how much they like the show and website. Getting the opportunity to meet Jimmy McLaughlin’s family. Even more bizarre to me was I’d be walking on the campus of UC and many people would stop me and say, Hey You’re Cincinnati Soccer Talk! It was great meeting and being such passionate fans of FC Cincinnati, so that for me goes down as my favorite memory of 2016.

Brad Weigel – Favorite Moment of 2016: Plastic Cup!

I might have sweat my butt off during one of the hottest days of the year but it bore plenty of hardware. To kick off the day The Pride overcame a 1-0 defeat in the first leg to win the “Plastic Cup” by a score of 5-3 (5-4 agh). The match got a little heated at times but ended up being a fun day for all. I was able to meet many people I now call friends that day and events like this make Cincy such a special place to be. To cap it all off, FCC thrashed Loisburg Town FC 2-0 to win the Dirty River Derby. The club might have won several pieces of hardware during the season but the “Plastic Cup” was by far more glorious for me.

Yosief Tzeghai – Favorite Moment of 2016: Beating Louisville

My favorite moment of this season was most certainly FCC defeating Louisville in their third and final match of the season. There are very few things I know to be constant truths in my life, one of them is that Louisville is full of… well lets just say it was a fun rivalry this year. FC Cincy had a lot of success in 2016, but something was missing after Louisville and Chandler Hoffman’s hat trick led to a Blurange defeat earlier in the season. In the blistering summer heat FC Cincinnati kept a clean sheet against a Louisville side that was boasting a rather long unbeaten streak at the time. The sweet taste of victory was only surpassed by watching the away fans who had made the trip up to Nippert Stadium go home without the Dirty River Derby title for 2016.

Bill Wolf – Favorite Moment of 2016: Inaugural Footgolf Classic

For me a favorite moment needs to last more than a moment. It has to resonate and carry forward into your life in a profound way. There were quite a few of these moments for me in 2016 but the one that I think really stands out was Cincinnati Soccer Talk hosting its Inaugural Footgolf Classic. I already had a passion for soccer, a passion for Cincinnati, and a desire to see pro-soccer grow and succeed here. I could have easily sat in my seat at the games and enjoyed every moment of it, but when Cincinnati Soccer Talk reached out to me and asked if I’d like to get more involved, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Writing about soccer was fun, and I enjoyed the occasional chance to speak about it on the podcast, but what should have been obvious was that a shared passion brings people together and I’m thankful to have found new friends I would never have met otherwise. We trade jokes and talk about our jobs and families and have even met up for lunch a few times. So why was the Footgolf classic “the moment”?

Well, first, it was an amazing day. Orange and blue were everywhere. I drove Jeff Berding around the course to meet everyone and everyone was so excited that he came out and made a personal appearance. The FCC players showed up right when it decided to start raining, but they had fun with it (maybe a bit too much fun). Brad did an incredible job organizing it and everyone had a great time. So many supporters came out, supporters of the club and the podcast but also of Cincinnati. People who wanted opportunities to make a difference for a worthy cause. It even continued later at a match when Sports Games for Kids (the organization we raised money for) brought a block of children and their families from Children’s Hospital to a FCC game. They marched with the supporters into the stadium and had a wonderful time. It opened my eyes to realize that Cincinnati Soccer Talk was more than just a news source, more than just some friends who get together weekly to discuss their common love of soccer, it was bigger. Meeting so many of the listeners face to face and seeing their love of the game, and seeing how this group could be a force for good within the community was exciting. This was the event where I met most of the Cincinnati Soccer Talk guys face to face for the first time and not via Skype. It locked in friendships, changed my view of what Cincinnati Soccer Talk really was about and gave me another outlet to help grow Cincinnati and pro-soccer here.

Boston Brazzell – Favorite Moment of 2016: Marching in Bockfest Parade with Die Innenstadt

The Bockfest Parade was my favorite, What did I get myself into? moment. Looking back, I was marching with many guys that would later turn out to be friends. I had 200 squishy soccer balls with a DI logo whipped up at work and we passed them out to kids. The group was so new. We only had a couple chants but saying them over and over was still a blast. The onlookers quickly made the connection that we were there because of that new soccer team, and cheered us on. I’m looking forward to continuing this tradition.

[getsocial app=”sharing_bar”]