USL San Diego Supporters Get a Name

USL San Diego name their supporter group while they wait for the team to announce team name, crest and colors.

Supporters gather at Bay City Brewing to vote for a Supporter's Group name.

On October 19th, a group of about 50 supporter, local sports broadcasters, and casual observers gathered together to name the Supporter's Group, that had been previously gone by the "Unnamed Supporters Group".

Prior to the meeting local Supporter's Group leaders put together listening sessions all over the San Diego region, but today's meeting was different. This was about coming together to decide a name. As Drew Steck, the "General Enthusiasm Coordinator" and Jerry Jimenez got things going, everyone waited in anticipation for the name reveals that people submitted prior to the meeting.

The names came fast and furious at the beginning, as those who waited till the day of were given one minute to pitch their idea as their names were typed in to be projected as they spoke. There were a great variety of names inspired by one thing or another in the San Diego region.

After the first round of voting, three names emerged as the favorites. They were "The Warren", "The Locals", and "The Altas". All three of these names came from the second half of the presentations, where those who submitted ahead of time had five minutes to present their ideas. These presentations were well planned, with visual aides and back stories. It was quite impressive to see how much effort everyone put into the names and their presentations.

In the end, one name came out as the overwhelming favorite, and it was "The Locals". I'd take the time to try and explain the name and what it meant to a lot of people at Bay City, but there is a beautiful video that does a much better job than I could.

The next steps for the supporters group will be establishing elected leadership, establishing a non-profit for the group, and to establish membership guidelines. I would encourage anyone interested to get involved in any way the can with "The Locals". The culture and traditions are going to be established, and most importantly a new soccer family is forming. As the video points out, we come from all over and we have supported other teams in the past, but we should come together and celebrate our history, while forging our future together!