By Orli Strickman, Senior Managing Editor
Every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., the Wheaton Wanderers take the soccer field in Camera Park in Glendale Heights for their weekly practice. They play as semi-professional members of the United Premier Soccer League, meaning that they show up after a long day of work. And their team mascot is a flamingo.
The team was started by John Kadiman ’24, who hopes to build a Division 1 team for families and locals of DuPage County. At a time when teams like the Savannah Bananas are drawing huge crowds with a mission to make baseball fun, Kadiman saw the need for a local team that emphasizes competitive soccer alongside whimsical game days.
“The whole point is to bring families together on Sunday nights when we have our home games,” he said.
Kadiman initially looked into buying a football club but quickly realized the barrier of entry for starting a team is significantly lower. “I called up the UPSL League and I said, ‘Hey, how do I start a football team?’” he said. “The guy talked to me for about 45 minutes, and then even without a pitch, we signed for the football club.”
One of Kadiman’s biggest challenges in building a football club from scratch was finding a pitch. “Everywhere around Wheaton, all the fields were booked up,” he said.
Through a personal connection, he was able to secure the soccer field at Camera Park for the team’s home games. Otherwise, the Wheaton Wanderers would have had to play in Chicago, which conflicted with Kadiman’s vision for a team that local Wheaton kids could eventually play for.
Running a semiprofessional soccer club requires paying referees, covering travel costs, renting a venue and providing the carnival games that always accompany home matches. The team initially charged $10 for tickets, with free admission for children. For a startup team, the most important thing was to attract fans quickly. That’s why Kadiman pivoted to making tickets free for all fans, a decision made financially feasible by the team’s revenue from sponsors.
“That’s been very critical to our financial success,” he said. “It’s about the fans. We want to give back to the community, and that’s why for our football games, we want to make them free.”
The team also covers costs for its players, which he said is not typical of all USPL teams. “Even though we’re D1, sometimes you have to pay to play,” Kadiman said. “We’ve made it our decision to be able to make it free for our players.”
Kadiman hopes to build a team of people dedicated to building something from the ground up, including by hiring interns. “The internships and the companies I’ve worked for that have given me the most responsibilities are the ones I’ve gotten the most out of, and that’s what we’ve been trying to create, is an environment of fun,” he said.
The team held open tryouts on Aug. 1, signing Wheaton alumni and local players looking to go semipro. Samuel Marchi, who recently moved to Wheaton, connected with Kadiman through Instagram. “I just moved into the area about two months ago, and I just wanted to play with a local team,” he said.
Nicholas Kisereu, the team’s coach, initially signed on to be a player. “I realized my strengths were more suited for coaching, so we made that transition, and I couldn’t be happier with it,” he said.
Marchi said that getting to know his team has been challenging, given that the team is brand new and practices once a week. “Personally, the biggest challenge has been making some of the practices, because I have work, and I coach,” he said. “But the biggest reward is coming out on the field every time and making something click.”
The Wanderers won their opening game against Chelsea Adolphus after their opponents failed to show up, according to forward Samir Ghiasi. Their first home game on Sept. 27 resulted in a 2-2 draw, with Ghiasi having scored one goal.
“This is what I live for. I’m going to try my best to be the top goal-scorer,” he said. “To work my tail off to be there for the team when they need me.”
Kisereu said he has been encouraged by the team’s resilience so far. “I’m always looking for how my players respond well, or not well, to adversity,” he said.
“Going down 2-nothing at the half is not an easy position to come back from, so being able to get that first goal in the second half and keep fighting shows me I’ve got a lot of guys here who are willing to die for the team,” Kisereu said.
The Wanderers play their next home game on Sunday, Oct. 11.
Though the Wanderers are not explicitly Christian, Kadiman hopes the team will continue building a healthy camaraderie. “I want our team to win well,” he said. “I want to set a culture that truly exemplifies what it means to be a team that respects each other on and off the court and shows God in everything they do.”
Claire Taylor contributed reporting to this piece.
