Lowcountry United struggling to find home for 2018

Destined for the UPSL in 2018, Charleston’s semi-pro side Lowcountry United are finding it tough to secure a home for next year due to high rent costs.

The team had filed for UPSL expansion in 2018, and had already agreed a deal for field usage before a last minute rework of the deal required the team to pay $1,300 per hour in rent money.

LUFC have just completed their inaugural 2017 campaign and play their last game of the season against the Georgia Revolution on Sunday. They have built their club based almost solely on making connections throughout the community and through word of mouth, a truly grassroots approach to the game of Soccer, which isn’t seen much in this day and age.

Owner and head coach Alan Bahadori has reached out to many local schools and rec departments, who have all turned the club down for various reasons.

“We have continued to try to make sure our community doesn’t miss out on all the opportunities that grass roots and semi pro teams provide to the community.  This is the closed minded system that we have here.” says Bahadori, understandably frustrated by the turn of events. Having recently joined UPSL, they had finally settled on a venue after spending much of their first season travelling, only for the rent agreement to be shot up at the last minute. It just goes to show how difficult building a club from the ground up can be, financially as well as emotionally.

The lack of a venue would mean that they miss out on their expansion opportunities, as well as, and potentially more importantly, the US Open Cup qualifiers that that carries.

Despite their troubles, Bahadori remains confident, and even open to the possibility of splitting revenue for games if they can get a deal in place.

“We are willing to split the gate, split vendor revenue, do whatever we can even pay a reasonable field rental. We aren’t looking for free field usage, we are just looking to get something going with someone who shared the vision and value this provides.”

If you can help, contact the club at lowcountryunited@gmail.com, or download their app and visit their website for more information.