The Ocala Stampede Soccer club is the brain child of its founder, Bill Reed. Bill stumbled into the Premier Development League of the United Soccer Leagues, following his passion to build an elite training facility in Ocala Florida. Bill is a successful business man who reached the opportunity to do what he always wanted, combine athletics and business for a higher purpose. Leveraging his business foundations, Bill set out to form an elite training center with the highest level of athletic instruction, combined with spiritual mentoring that wasn’t “churchy.”
This was an inviting path for him, because his brother is a world-class elite physical therapist and trainer and his pastor is a Reverend, without much starchy reverence.
Growing up Bill was obviously older, but also considerably larger than his younger brother, Burt. He shouldn’t have picked on him. Burt became a highly successful businessman with multiple Physical Therapy clinics built on his reputation for producing exceptional results in healing and recovery. But Burt wanted more. He became a pioneer in developing and implementing the most advanced tools for anticipating an athlete’s greatest point of exposure to injury. Thus, Burt’s impact became not merely recovery but preparation so as to prevent or reduce injury. Awed that what his younger brother had developed was being used by the wealthiest of professional organizations, Bill had a family relationship that grew into a dream.
Church meetings came and went. The pastor, Ted Strawbridge, seemed obsessed with the calling of every believer to understand their life’s vocation with a higher purpose. Bill had known his heart’s calling was always given to sports, it’s what he’d dreamed of ever since he was a boy. But, this preacher talked about our work as if it too could be connected to our dream and even to eternity. He acted like our work here mattered to God and he was relentless, in no-nonsense style. On a men’s retreat Ted introduce Bill to George McGovern, Chaplain for the New York Yankees and for the National Football League’s, New York Giants. George affirmed Bill’s passion that the world of sport and spiritual mentoring are in fact one of the most powerful tools for changing the lives of young people. Bill was hooked.
With his brother and Pastor as co-investors, Bill spearheaded the acquisition of a new franchise for Ocala, The Ocala Stampede Soccer Club. Following the formula, First who, then what, Bill found himself led to two extraordinary individuals in his General Manager and Coach.
Knox Strawbridge, the preacher’s son, had just completed four years of varsity men’s soccer at Southeastern University, a competitor in the NAIA Conference in Lakeland Fl.. More than his athleticism, Knox has been known by coaches from his childhood for his incessant determined pleasure in competing. He is literally the first kid to every practice and the last one carrying off the balls when everyone else has left. Knox is the first student elected to serve as President of the Athletic Leadership Institute at Southeastern, a position that frames the spiritual impact of all the sports and student athletes of the college for the year. Bill offered that rather than pursuing a graduate degree, he would mentor Knox in the business of running an organization and Knox could give his energy to creating the beautiful game he loved, soccer.
Of all things, looking for a stadium lead the growing leadership team to the most unique blessing of all, a tremendous coach, Anderson DaSilva. Anderson was born in Brazil. He began his life in a family with deep respect for their Catholic faith. His wife was used to further his spiritual walk introducing him to the language of a personal relationship with the Christ that he had grown up believing. This new faith relationship made Anderson a different man. Things in his life became realigned. Working for the Villages, south of Ocala, Anderson developed an appreciation for building the very best. The Villages Soccer Club was founded by him and achieves the highest level of approval that the Villages bestows. Always their was a deeper passion. When he was introduced to the vision of The Stampede the very first time Anderson replied, “All my life I have known soccer is the way to tell people about Jesus, all around the world. I want very much to be a part of what you are doing.”
The Ocala Stampede is the shared vision of five friends who want to change the world through sports and mentoring. There is much, much, more to come. Nevertheless the sounds of rushing hoofbeats seem to be growing stronger, louder, clearer. The Ocala Stampede is on and you could be the next family to begin following the herd.
