2024 Year in Review

By Dave Wasiolek

Dear NSST Board and partners:

I hope all is well with each of you as we head into this season of peace.

As the year comes to an end it is good to look back and reflect on what was accomplished in order to prepare for what lies ahead.

As 2024 began and winter faded into spring, the outstanding crew at Kickin’ It 615 once again gave their time and fortunes to provide opportunities for children to play our beautiful game regardless of financial constraints. To aid them in this noble task the Trust continued as a major financial sponsor as we have since Kickin’ It 615’s founding.

Last year The Nashville Metro School District started a spring interscholastic soccer league for their grade school students. However, with limited city funding the teams needed to reach out to the community to get most of the equipment they needed to outfit a team. The Trust adopted Haywood Elementary and in both 2023 and 2024 we outfitted the team with balls, pinnies, spikes, shorts, and socks as well as pop up training goals.

The Trust also teamed up with the Murfreesboro Liverpool Supporter Group to help fund the excellent work of First Shot. First Shot provides soccer and basketball camps to kids regardless of ability to play. Their mission: “to provide an opportunity for all children to excel in a safe environment” walks hand in hand with the Trust’s own mission.

As a quasi-Backline member the Trust always wants to be there for our brothers and sisters in the supporter groups. This year the Nashville Heaters once again reached out for support of their charity, The Civic Design Center, and the Trust was glad to help. This group is heavily involved in city park design including spaces for soccer pitches.

When the school year ended and the sun rose high in the early summer sky, Nashville’s entry into the Woman’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) took the pitch. Following up on their incredible run to the national semifinals in 2023 the ladies of Nashville Rhythm FC put together another outstanding season this year winning their conference championship by going 7 – 1 – 0 before taking the show on the road and making it as far as the Region finals. The Trust was honored to be in their corner throughout their journey both with financial support as well as raucous cheers and smoke from the sidelines.

With the NSC season in full gear, the Trust joined hands with NSC to honor our military veterans by funding the purchase of discounted game tickets so that those who give so much for us could attend an NSC match for free.

The summer of 2024 was also a time to take a moment to look back at the Nashville soccer journey. This year was a special time for all Nashville soccer fans who have been following the team from its initial founding as the Nashville Football Club. That fan owed team played their inaugural season 10 years ago in 2014. Fans were encouraged to take a trip down memory lane by going to the NSST website to see pictures of game action taken of that season. In addition, to celebrate that momentous occasion, the Trust held a drawing of various NFC paraphernalia including a game worn NFC jersey as well as 2 Premier Club seats to an NSC match and an NSC autographed soccer ball.

Finally, as the weather cooled, and the smell of fall wafted through the air the Trust fielded a team for Kickin’ It 615’s annual footgolf tournament. Much to our chagrin the team failed once again in its pursuit of the championship. For the third year in a row the Trust side finished second after coming in tied for first but losing in the kickoff. (We are beginning to feel like the 1990’s Buffalo Bills.) That said, everyone had a wonderful time and a lot of money was raised for the kids.

Well here we are, another year in the books. If you are like me sometimes it is easy to forget what is important when dealing with the everyday stresses of life. But if you take a moment to pause and look around you will see all the small miracles that go on around us every day. Personally, I am inspired by the incredible number of people who sacrifice of themselves day after day to help their neighbor and in doing so make this world just a little kinder.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I especially want to thank my fellow members of the NSST board (Angie Haddock, Chris Ferrell, and Obed Compean), without whom the Trust would not be able to contribute our small part toward helping all the amazing angels who make our Tennessee home a better place.

All my best,

Dave