There are only so many opportunities in a season to truly slow down. On July 6, at about the midway point in the MLS season, FC Cincinnati took an afternoon to come together after morning training to spend time with the people who matter most.
The club's annual Family Day at the FC Cincinnati Training Center brought together players, coaches, technical staff, and their loved ones for an afternoon together.
Organized by FC Cincinnati’s Player Welfare Department in conjunction with team leaders, the event is more than just a break—it’s part of a larger vision that puts people first and understands that a strong team off the field is the foundation of success on it.
Across the fields, kids chased bubbles and slid down the inflatable waterslide and kicked the ball around the minipitch that had been set up. Under the warm summer sun, with music playing, laughter bouncing off the walls and cooling fans working overtime to help make the heat just a little more comfortable, the day felt more like a backyard reunion than the typical intensity the grass hosts for training everyday.
“We aim to help our players in any way that we can so that they can spend their focus and energy on the pitch,”FCC’s Director of Player Welfare Rodrigo Frank said. “We can’t take care of every issue, but we can do a lot. And getting everyone together for an afternoon over a holiday weekend, where holidays can often become secondary to the soccer schedule, is just a fun thing we can do for our players and our families.
“Whether it’s staff or players,” Frank continued. “When their families are supported, it strengthens the entire club.”
“It's great. Anytime we get the families together I think it shows this is bigger than just soccer, it's a community,” defender DeAndre Yedlin said of the event. It's a really nice time. Seeing all the kids out, there's so many kids on this team, I swear, so seeing all the kids out and playing together. It's awesome.”
The Player Welfare department is an invaluable part of the FC Cincinnati ecosystem that helps FCC’s stars in a variety of ways. From assisting new players in assimilating to life in their new city, or being a resource to families when the team is on the road, to helping players find schools for their kids to go to, the work done by Frank is often done in quiet but couldn’t be more important to the team.
“I've been at clubs that don't do anything for the families. One of the reasons I love it here so much is, you know, just how much families are taken care of, because I've seen the other side of it,” Yedlin added, drawing on his experience of playing not only in MLS, but in England and Turkey as well. “I think it makes, believe it or not, our job a lot more stressful when we have to worry about how our families are being taken care of by the club. So it's great that they take care of us like that. It's great that they hold that high standard for how they treat families. I think it's what makes this club a top club, is the fact that they care more than just about the football.”
These are the kinds of moments that don’t make the highlight reel but matter just as much. In a long, demanding season, Family Day is a solid reminder for everyone at FC Cincinnati of the people they’re playing with—and those at home who support them to reach their goals.
