Lawrenceville brothers part of Silverbacks ownership
Lawrenceville businessmen buy into soccer, Silverbacks
Gwinnett Daily Post
#LAWRENCEVILLE — You won’t find these decorations at just any Gwinnett comapny, but upon visiting John and Henry Hardin’s Lawrenceville offices it’s hard to miss the Atlanta Silverbacks scarves that adorn some of the cubicles and the soccer trophies that sit in their offices.
#But the Hardin brothers aren’t just avid soccer fans, they are now part owners of the Silverbacks club, which for the first time is 100 percent locally owned. The team is part of the North American Soccer League, the No. 2 league in the United States behind Major League Soccer (MLS).
#The owners of SCI Companies, a payroll and human resources technology company in Lawrenceville, bought part ownership of the Silverbacks on Jan. 1. They now own the franchise along with investor John Latham and Boris Jerkunica, the Silverbacks chairman and sole owner of the Atlanta Silverbacks Park at Spaghetti Junction where the team will continue to play its home games.
#The Silverbacks’ business staff, however, has moved into the Hardin’s business off Buford Drive, adjacent to Coolray Field on Technology Center Parkway.
#“While the stadium’s in DeKalb County and we’ll be playing in DeKalb, we’ll be bringing our appearances and community impact out to Gwinnett County,” said John Hardin, whose team’s home stadium borders the Gwinnett line. “And all of our business operations will be out of Gwinnett County.”
#The brothers are Florida natives who have been soccer enthusiasts since childhood. They have both served as community soccer coaches at Dacula’s Hebron Christian Academy, a state finalist last year in Class A boys.
#“Soccer has always been a passion in our family, since the days that we played in high school and the state championship in Florida,” said Henry Hardin. “We’ve always enjoyed soccer and thought it was an underdog to other sports in the U.S.
#“But we think that now is the time for soccer,” he added. “We want to take it into Gwinnett County and make it a more local, intimate type of experience. We want to make it the sport of choice.”
#The Hardins said 11 players are under contract, including Lawrenceville resident Eric Ati, who played for Grayson High. They said work is underway to add at least 10 more players to the roster in the coming weeks.
#Eric Wynalda, who is in the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame and played on three World Cup teams for the U.S., has also been named as the Silverbacks Technical Director and will coach the team. Wynalda is also the lead soccer analyst for the Fox Sports 1 channel.
#“His style and approach is a systems approach style of play that is assessing the competition” John Hardin said of Wynalda. “Soccer is a complex sport and has to be played with game intelligence. He not only knows how to play the sport but understands the intelligence behind it. We think he’ll bring a lot of recognition to our club as we go for talent, sponsorships and ticket sales.”
#The Hardins did not disclose how much money was spent or their percentage of ownership in the team but insisted they are making a long-term investment into the Silverbacks and soccer in Gwinnett County. They are planning to support the Dacula Soccer Club and may consider other corporate sponsorships of Gwinnett County teams. They also want to dispatch Silverbacks players to Gwinnett County schools and to community teams to discuss the sport and Silverbacks competition.
#“We want to create a place where little kids can get on the soccer field and have someone to look up to” said Henry Hardin. “And we don’t want them to have to look across the pond to Europe to find their heroes. We want it to be someone local. We want to create local role models and sports heroes that kids can look up to.
#“We think we have incredible talent locally, if we can just harness that,” he added. “Because that’s how you get people into the stadiums. When you know the players and you’ve seen them play in high school and on club teams and then they come back from college on a local pro team, that’s how you build a following. And we think we can do that in Gwinnett County.”
#The local entrepreneurs hope that success of the Silverbacks could ultimately lead to the location of a soccer stadium in Gwinnett County. They noted that the Georgia Gwinnett College soccer team and Coolray Field provide building blocks on which to build interest in professional soccer competition in Gwinnett County.
#“Boris (Jerkunica) already understands the need to expand Silverbacks Park,” Henry Hardin said. “We don’t know what may be possible with economic development in Gwinnett County. But maybe in the future, we’ll be able to talk to Dr. (Daniel) Kauffman, head of the (Gwinnett County) Chamber of Commerce, about finding us a place.”
#“Or maybe retrofitting Coolray Field,” John Hardin added.
#Henry Hardin said that in additon to being the most popular sport in the world, soccer is the easiest to play. He believes parents’ quest for alternative sports for their children and the international demographics of Gwinnett County will help swing the pendulum of public interest to soccer.
#“America also has a problem with physical fitness,” Hardin said. “And pound for pound, soccer is the most fit sport you can play.”
#For the Hardin brothers, soccer is a family affair. John Hardin has four sons who play soccer and Henry Hardin has three daughters and a son who have competed in the sport. They are not sure what financial impact their Silverbacks investment may have on Gwinnett County but promise there will be a “psychic impact investment.”
#“It’s all about developing kids early and bringing them up through the developmental teams and transcending to the level of the Silverbacks,” John Hardin observed. “Now, out of every 1,000 kids, you may get one or two who could actually compete on the Silverbacks level. But in the future, in Gwinnett County, we want four or five to make it.”
#“We’re not staying within our investment,” Henry Hardin said of the Silverbacks purchase. “Our investment is going out into Gwinnett County with our commitment of time, coaching community teams as well as promotion of the sport. That’s the most important ingredient to being successful in soccer. It has to be a local, intimate experience, the sporting event of choice. And we think the Silverbacks can be that choice.”
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