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Behind the Stripes

Eryn Speer

By Atlanta United FC

November 3^rd, 2019

For Eryn Speer, it all started with her love for Atlanta.

“I played soccer when I was a kid,” she says, “but I’m big into supporting Atlanta sports. So when my friends and I heard about Atlanta United, we were super excited about it and this got me back into soccer.”

Those early games were in Loganville, about a half hour east of Decatur. Eryn went on to go to Kennesaw State University, where her early love for art turned into a career in design.

“I was always into art and drawing as a kid, it’s always kind of been there,” she says. “When I was little I really wanted to make animated movies and cartoons, but that kind of morphed into graphic design as an adult.”

So after spending her entire life supporting Atlanta teams, her excitement at the team’s announcement became a love from the team’s first season. Her first Atlanta United experience was also her first real introduction to MLS, so she had no idea what to expect.

“Not being a big MLS fan to begin with, I wasn’t sure what I was walking into. I’ve been to a lot of other teams’ games in this town, and it’s just not even in the same realm as far as atmosphere and excitement. So it was definitely surprising, I was taken aback the first game I went to for sure.”

That started a new passion for a new team in town, that has taken her through every high and low the 17s have faced since March 2017. She obviously lists winning MLS Cup as one of the highest highs, but also pointed to the team’s homecoming, their first match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, as a particularly special moment.

“Just walking into the stadium for the first time is a favorite for me. I had been in the Georgia Dome plenty of times and it was great, but Mercedes-Benz Stadium is just so updated and just grandiose. You walk in and you can see out the windows to the skyline, it was crazy to see how big it was, how many people it held. My friend actually cried when we walked in. But that first game I went to was packed out, that was just an experience by itself.”

So after supporting her new team through its first few seasons, she took special notice when Atlanta United announced a contest for a fan-designed scarf. She says she didn’t have much expectation –– “how often do you win contests like this?” she says –– but as a designer herself, she had to put in a submission. But of the hundreds of designs that came in, it was hers that was picked. It’s a tribute to Atlanta, to Atlanta United, and to the city that helped mold her into the person she is today.

“We’re about Atlanta, so I tried to take elements that people were really familiar with in the city. The peach was obviously a call to Georgia but also the King Peach kits. I put a little bit of the skyline but also the Ferris wheel, and for me, Mercedes-Benz Stadium has become an iconic part of the city over the past few years. I think it resonated because it’s fun, not in a childlike way, but just not serious or uptight.”

It was a thrilling moment, to be picked as the winning design. But for Eryn, it was more about the next step. So when her scarf dropped at Official Team Stores as November's Scarf of the Month, she finally got to see her scarf made real –– even seeing Waka Flocka rep it on the capo stand.

“It’s great because one thing I like about being a designer is seeing my stuff out in real life,” she says. “If I make a shirt and then I see someone wearing that shirt, it’s super cool to me. This is that on a much larger scale with hundreds and hundreds of people wearing my stuff. So I was excited to win but even more than that, it was the idea of being at a game or even just at a sports bar, and I see someone wearing that scarf. That’s so cool.”

From Loganville to Kennesaw to Mercedes-Benz Stadium –– Eryn’s is one of the countless unique stories that make up Atlanta United’s unprecedented fan base. And her scarf is in many ways like Atlanta United itself: a tribute to Atlanta. For Atlanta, by Atlanta.

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