Peachtree City MOBA: The Pride of PTC

11 weeks. 13 games. This is it. Peachtree City MOBA's inaugural season is one game away from it's conclusion. Rarely does a team qualify for the playoffs in its first year, and MOBA is no exception. But this season was not about making the playoffs. It wasn't about winning a championship. This 2016 USL PDL season was about showing up for every game, and putting our heart and soul into every single match. It was about Sam Ellis breaking your speakers every time MOBA scored. It was about the inability of most other team's livestream announcers to pronounce the name Taku Mashingaidze. It was about being a team with pride. It hasn't been the easiest season for Peachtree City as they sit at 3 wins, 8 losses, and 2 draws, with a goal differential of -9. Despite any adversity they've faced, from having their hearts shattered in the first game of the year in a 2-1 loss, to falling to the defending division champs twice, MOBA never let it get to them, and they made that obvious through some outstanding showings. Jessey Hein had a miracle goal in the last possible second to seal the first ever home win against Tri-Cities. Todd Fidler made his first appearance for MOBA against Tormenta FC Wednesday night, and he pulled out an outstanding 2-goal showing, including a 30+ yard rocket that even the PDL Twitter account couldn't help but commend. Sure, MOBA wasn't the unbeaten monster of a team that we all hoped they would be, but that's not really what we wanted. All any of us really wanted was a team that we could be proud of. A team that we could say was ours, and that's exactly what we got. Peachtree City embraced this team as its own, and showed up to support the men in yellow and black out on the pitch every single night. The city of Peachtree City was MOBA Proud every game, and the players fed off that. The home season may be over, but there is still one game remaining, and the players are heading to Greensboro hungry for one more win to bring home to the people of Peachtree City.

The Icelandic National Football Team was "given a hero's welcome" upon their return to Reykjavik despite falling to France 5-2, not because they took home any hardware, but because they won the hearts of the Icelandic people and made them proud, and I, personally, feel like MOBA has done the same with us. The team was down 1-0 to the Charlotte Eagles at home, and in the 92nd minute, the fans broke out into the "Let's go MOBA!" chant in support of their team. MOBA could not find the equalizer they were looking for, but at the final whistle, the fans stood and cheered in support of their effort. That is what association football is all about: Being proud of the effort and heart your club puts into every match, win or lose. They say football makes people insane, but that isn't the word I would use. Football doesn't make us insane, but proud. The whole sport is based around the idea of pride, not just internationally, but within cities. And expressing that pride will be much easier next year, when we have our own stadium to call home.

The one thing I am going to ask of the people of Peachtree City is this: Next season, at the MOBA Soccer Stadium, there are going to be 1,000 seats. There are 34,000 of us. I want you to pack that stadium full. Makes Mr. Harms consider adding more seats to the stadium to accommodate the outrageous number of fans that show up. And I want you to cheer. Cheer like we just won the World Cup. Let the players know we love them, and let the opposing team's fans know that we are here to support our club. Cause we aren't insane (well, maybe a little, but that's all part of the experience), we are proud. We are #MOBAProud


Next Game: July 16, 2016 against the Carolina Dynamo @ 7 PM @ Lander Soccer Complex (Season Finale) #MOBAProud

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