Page 36 - Flathead Beacon // 7.16.14

36 | JULY 16, 2014 FLATHEADBEACON.COM
BUSINESS
BRINGING SOCCER BACK TO ITS ROOTS
LOCAL COMPANY SEEKS TO BRING SIMPLICITY BACK TO THE SOCCER INDUSTRY
WHITEFISH – The beauty of soccer lies in its simplicity: one ball, two goals and any number of players. This is a huge part of the sport’s appeal, and one of the reasons that peo- ple from the slums of Buenos Aires to the Flathead Valley can grow up playing “jogo bonito” – the beautiful game.
Roland Benedict, Chris Fannon, and
Sean Person of the Flathead Valley are trying to bring that simplicity back to the game through their new brand, Leg- end Soccer Company, which will launch a kickstarter funding campaign on July 18. All three founders are avid soccer players and the informal motto of the company seems to be, “we’re a soccer company, for soccer players, made by
soccer players.”
The three of them, all dressed in
gothic-looking Legend Soccer T-shirts, became friends through soccer, and be- tween them, have played at every level, from high school through college and all the way to the Belgian league and trials at renowned British team Manchester City. Today, they are teammates on the
Flathead Rapids soccer team, of which Person is the director.
“The idea of Legend was rooted in history,” Person said. “The game goes back thousands of years,” and is played by people all over the world, and yet to- day the soccer industry is dominated by around 10 brands. Nike and Adidas bring out gaudy and futuristic-looking cleats
by Xavier Flory
From left: Roland Benedict, Sean Person and Chris Fannon, founders of Legend Soccer Company. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON