Scarves Up: Triangle Soccer Fanatics

Scarves Up  will be a feature over the course of the offseason to get the perspective from the stands and the great supporters around the North American Soccer League (NASL).

The Carolina RailHawks continue to be a tough team to beat on home ground, and NASL.com spoke to Triangle Soccer Fanatics president and winner of the name-the-team contest W. Jarrett Campbell. He discussed the team's strong run at home, the return of head coach Colin Clarke and more.  

NASL: Who are the Triangle Soccer Fanatics?

Triangle Soccer Fanatics: The Triangle Soccer Fanatics are an independent supporters’ group  of the Carolina RailHawks. We are a collection of RailHawks fans that like to get together before the games to tailgate, congregate together in the same section of the stands - cheer. sing, drum and support our team.

We also do things outside the soccer park like watch parties and things like that.  

NASL: With the supporters’ group active before the RailHawks began to play, what games did you follow before the club was there and how great was it to finally have a professional club in your backyard to go see?

TSF: The group really started out as United States Men’s National Team fans that were looking for places to watch games on television. Not all the games were on television 10 years ago  and  only available on pay-per-view. So as soccer fans we got together to watch those U.S. games or other games that were harder to find.

When the team was announced, I said ‘Hey, let’s make this into something more, let’s be the supporters’ group of the team.’ We were literally there from day one for the press announcement of  the team. We introduced ourselves to the new ownership as the supporters’ group so that was kind of cool.

NASL: The RailHawks have become one of the strongest teams at home  having a  23-game unbeaten streak, although it was recently ended, but why do you think the team has had so much success there?

TSF: We have possibly one of the best facilities not only in the league but in the country dedicated to soccer. The town of Cary maintains WakeMed Soccer Park as a world-class facility.

The facility itself - the grass field and the locker rooms, the training facilities and all that - is  probably without equal around the league. I think that breeds a mentality in the players that they enjoy playing here, and they feel comfortable on the field with the nice, wide playing field that we try to take advantage of. As a result, it’s become a pretty special place for the players here, and I like to think the supporters help add to that.

NASL: In a recent interview with NASL.com, head coach Colin Clarke noted he thought the team could be a year or two away from a title, has that energized the group ahead of the 2015 season?

TSF: I wouldn’t say it has newly-energized the group because we expect every year that the team is going to put out a championship squad. Other than the first two seasons that the RailHawks were around, which we really weren’t competitive, we’ve had a side that was capable of competing and going far. We finished first a few years ago. We’ve done well in postseason play. Last year may have been a bit of an anomaly for us because we finished a little bit outside of where we expected to.

With Colin coming back for a third season and  there being continuity for him to be able to build the roster the way he wants to over several years, we fully expect he’s going to compete for and potentially win the championship next year.  

NASL: What does the TSF have planned for the 2015 season at WakeMed Soccer Park?

TSF: 2015 is an exciting year for TSF. We’ve been around for about 10 years, but it wasn’t until last year that we formally organized as a non-profit. Last year was a formative year of getting our board and officers in place and doing a lot of new things together as a group. We see 2015 as an extension of that. We had great success in doing that last year and 2015 will be more of the same.

One of the things we did last year was get involved outside the soccer park in several community activities. We raised over $1,000 for two different charities - Fill Your Bucket List Foundation and the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

We want to harness the energy and passion of the RailHawks supporters to giving back even more.      

NASL: You touched on it a bit, but what are you expecting from the RailHawks on the pitch?

TSF: We’re expecting a championship. We’re expecting a competitive team that’s going to go out and compete every week.