The first Gotham goal changed the sound of the night.
Until then, the Brickyard Battalion had been doing what new adult soccer teams tend to do: running, figuring out positions, trying to remember who was supposed to be marking whom, and discovering that watching soccer every week does not automatically make playing it any easier.
The energy before their first match was high. Everybody wanted to be there. Then, as BYB board member Brett Mullenix remembers it, reality arrived.
“We were terrible,” he says.
And then they scored.
The reaction probably said more about the team than the scoreline ever could. Players erupted. Arms went up. Voices followed. The group that spends Indy Eleven matchdays singing from the stands suddenly had a goal of its own to celebrate.
So they sang.
“Back Home in Indiana,” the song BYB sings after Indy Eleven goals, made the trip from the supporters’ section to a recreational soccer field. For a few minutes, the surroundings had changed but the people had not.
“It was fun, and a great snapshot of what this casual environment was supposed to be like. Various levels of people coming together, playing soccer, and simply having fun.”
The soccer team began with an idea that was not really about soccer.
One of BYB’s goals for 2026 was to find more ways for members to spend time together away from Indy Eleven matchdays. Supporters groups are social by nature, but matchday is not always the easiest place to have a conversation. There are flags to move, songs to start, people to organize, friends to find, and eventually an actual soccer match demanding everyone’s attention.
You can recognize somebody for years without really knowing them.
BYB wanted more reasons for its members to be around one another, and a recreational soccer team happened to fit.
“One of the goals of the BYB was to get more into the community, and do events outside of matchday. So, when the opportunity presented itself to join a league and one that was convenient for everyone, this aligned perfectly with BYB’s mission here in 2026.”
The idea was simple: take a group that already had soccer, community, and friendship in common and give them another night to spend together.
Only this time, everybody had to bring shin guards.
The roster BYB assembled was not exactly built from an intimidating collection of old playing résumés.
Some had played recreationally. Some had played in high school. Others had never played at all.
“Basically, the range is never played, recreational, and high school experience. The perfect mix of folks just wanting to have fun.”
That made Gotham’s Casual Recreational Adult Player division a natural place for the group to start. Winning was never really the pitch.
“It’s not about winning. First and foremost, we want to have fun. Get together as a group of similarly interested folks, and just enjoy a night out.”
There were other benefits too. Players could get active, improve their fitness and learn more about a game many of them had spent years watching without ever playing themselves.
Mullenix is one of them.
“I, for example, never played, but now I can better read runs, understand the flow of the game from the pitch, and how to communicate that with others.”
Watching soccer gives you one perspective. Trying to track a runner, find space, receive the ball and make a decision before somebody closes you down gives you another.
Things that look obvious from the stands do not always feel quite so obvious when you are standing in the middle of them.
What surprised Mullenix most was how many BYB members were having that experience for the first time.
“Just at how a larger portion of the BYB supporters never played soccer. Ever. So being able to actually play the sport together was surprising and fun for everyone. Now we get to cheer each other on as we learn and develop alongside each other.”
They had spent countless hours watching soccer together without ever sharing a field.
Now they do both.
Putting the group onto a soccer field did not mean leaving BYB behind at the stadium.
The team kept the Brickyard Battalion name and the group’s traditional blue. Players have worn their various Equipt kits and Indy Eleven gear. A few of the familiar songs and chants came along too.
After a goal, fingers point upward for a chant of “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Another asks, “What’s better than one?” with the answer, naturally, being “Two!”
And on that first night, “Back Home in Indiana” suddenly belonged to them.
“Obviously, we had to use the Brickyard Battalion name, and our traditional blue coloring. We brought over a few chants. On that first night, we actually broke out the ‘Back Home in Indiana’ song we sing after every goal. It was fitting for the night.”
There is something different about singing for your friends instead of professionals.
The stakes are lower. The finishing is probably worse.
The celebration might be better.
Casual does not mean nobody notices the score.
BYB has started scoring more goals, and for this team, that counts as progress.
“We actually are starting to at least feel competent — even if the scoreline hasn’t improved much.”
Mullenix has evidence.
“We played one team and lost 8-1. We played them again last week and lost 8-3. I consider that improvement.”
It is difficult to argue with the mathematics.
The loss was still a loss, but the evening was not the same evening. Three goals instead of one. More moments that worked. A little more understanding. A few fewer things that felt completely new.
For a team partly made up of people who had never played soccer before this season, that counts for something.
Maybe quite a lot.
The more important progress is harder to find in a standings table.
Mullenix has been part of BYB for years and now serves on its board. Even after all that time, he still finds himself meeting members he did not really know before.
That was one of the reasons for starting the team in the first place.
“We all enjoy seeing each other on matchdays and pick up a few friends here and there. But we wanted to increase that time together.”
An adult soccer league gives them an hour where nobody needs to run a supporters’ section. There is still work to do — somebody has to organize substitutions, somebody has to play goalkeeper — but the point of the gathering is simpler.
They play. They talk. They learn a little more about one another.
“Instead of being busy on matchdays running around, busy with everything, we get to come together and actually get to know each other.”
The soccer is the excuse.
The friendships are what fill the space around it.
BYB is a group that votes on things, so Mullenix isn’t going to make the decision for everybody.
“We will have to review as a team and, as the BYB does, have a vote on it.”
But there are signs the first season won’t necessarily be the last.
The players who have continued to show up are enjoying themselves, and as long as the opportunity remains casual and convenient, Mullenix sees little reason why they would not consider doing it again.
“As long as the league exists, stays casual, and in a convenient location for us all — I don’t see why we wouldn’t return.”
There are worse endorsements for adult recreational soccer than people wanting to come back and do it again.
Ask Mullenix what he would tell another supporters group — or simply a group of friends who love soccer but are unsure whether they are good enough to form a team — and his answer starts with a challenge.
“You spend 90+ minutes a week cheering on your team — why not get in on the action yourself?”
Instead of only cheering for professionals representing your city, he says, a recreational team gives supporters a chance to represent their own group and start cheering for one another.
Ability should not be what stops somebody.
“Even if you are terrible — like myself and many others on our team — it is a great way to meet people, get fit-ish, and simply have fun in a casual environment.”
“Fit-ish” feels about right.
Adult soccer rarely exists in ideal circumstances. People have jobs, families, meetings, errands, and all the other things that make staying home easier than trying something new. There will almost always be a reason not to go.
For Mullenix, leaving the house for that hour has been worth it.
“We are all busy, but being able to do something like this outside of one’s comfort zone, outside of your place for an hour has absolutely been worth it for me.”
As a board member, it has also given him a new way to be among the BYB membership without a board meeting or matchday responsibility attached to it.
For everybody else, it has created something a little different.
A team.
Not necessarily a good one yet.
But theirs.
And the next time the ball crosses the line, they already know the song.
You do not need a roster full of lifelong players to start playing adult soccer.
Gotham Soccer’s Casual Rec divisions give newer players, returning players, and mixed-experience groups a place to get onto the field together.
Bring your friends. Bring your coworkers. Bring your supporters group.
Whether you have a full team of friends or are signing up as a free agent, we would be happy to have you join
Gotham Soccer League.
© 2026 Gotham Soccer.
All rights reserved.
1776 Mentor Ave #271
Cincinnati, OH 45212
+15132375642
info@gothamsoccer.com
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