The Family I Choose
Andrew Bresee, United States
Andrew “Breezy” Bresee lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is the Vice President of the American Outlaws Chattanooga chapter. He fell in love with soccer and the US National Teams while at college in Florence, Italy, in 2008. Andrew and his wife Ella plan their whole lives around football - playing football in the community, supporting their local team Chattanooga FC, and helping run the local chapter of the American Outlaws supporters club. Andrew’s biggest contribution is trying to shape the in-stadium atmosphere through songs, chants, drums, and tifo. He is both a drummer and a Capo (conducting his fellow supporters in organized songs, chants, and visual support).
My name is Andrew Bresee. Everyone calls me Breezy. I am 34 years old, born and raised in the greatest city on planet Earth - Chattanooga, Tennessee. I had a stop in Florence, Italy, for two years where I met Ella, my wife, and started my love story with soccer. I used to drive a truck for a beer distributor, but now I am self-employed, running my own real estate investment company.
I follow Chattanooga FC, Fiorentina, and the US National Teams (USNTs). I play soccer, which I started as an adult at fields built by my local club Chattanooga FC. I am fortunate to now live within walking distance of those fields, where I play as a goalkeeper in 5v5 leagues twice per week, even with some retired Chattanooga FC players on my team! Literally living the dream!
My family heritage is a mixed bag, with large parts of English and UK heritage on both sides, but so many tiny slivers of other places, including a little bit of French and German (via Switzerland - likely where the last name comes from), and some Swedish. Both of my parents grew up overseas, dad in Beirut and mom in the Philippines, but oddly enough neither were soccer fans.
Positive National Pride
I did not grow up a soccer fan, having discovered my love for soccer in college. Since then, it has grown to be the only sport that really matters to me. I see it as a chance to express positive national pride. So often these days, national pride is used in a negative way or only expressed every four years when the Olympics roll around. I am able to experience and express positive national pride every time the USNTs take the field.
The American Outlaws (AO) fan community that surrounds the USNTs is exceptional. Many of these folks have become some of my closest friends. Our parents had the church as the center of their social lives. I have my local soccer club and the supporters called the Chattahooligans, and I have the national team and the American Outlaws. Those are the people who would take care of my wife if I were hit by a bus, and the family I choose to do life with.
Too often in modern times, national pride is divisive, negative, and political. For me, supporting the USNTs is the exact opposite of this. It is a chance to lift up those representing my country, surrounded by people who I love and respect, and embrace what makes us proud, our soccer players. It is not about degrading other countries, but about loving ours. It is a chance to show pride that is not exclusionary, but inclusionary. Show up and support the United States. That is the requirement. Who you are or where you are from, it does not matter.
Look at where the members of the USMNT grew up. Is there a better, more diverse, and more accurate picture of America than them? It is not your “blood” but the crest on your chest. A country of immigrants striving for a better life and a better world. The ideals of my country are expressed through competition and sport. A positive example and view for young kids no matter where they come from or what they look like. The USMNT and USWNT make me so proud to be an American every time they take the field. I hope they are proud of us when they look up into the stands as we sing, chant, bang drums, fly flags, and make tifo, all to express our support for a country we all share.
Feeling The Support, Feeling The Pressure
As fans in the stands, we have two opportunities to influence the game. The first is to have our players feel our support. Second, the chance to have our opponents feel the pressure. The home field is created by the supporters and it starts with us. Whether you are in the supporters’ section or not, I hope you feel our passion and our energy. Live sports are like live music. We live the moments together in that stadium. We cannot replicate those moments in everyday life, and the highs and lows of competition bring emotions that are beautiful and irreplaceable.
I have capo'd, drummed, and helped shape the supporter sections in numerous stadiums. “Capo” comes from the Italian word for “leader or head”. It is the person who leads the chants and helps direct the drums. Sometimes it is multiple people. And it looks different in every stadium and every supporter group.
Meaningful Sporting Moments
While living in Florence, Italy, I watched the USMNT almost win the 2009 Confederations Cup and then followed the 2010 World Cup. The seeds were planted and my love for the USMNT blossomed, but I had yet to attend a game in person.
I originally met some AO members from all over the country in a couple of United States fan groups on Facebook. But it was in 2014 that I officially joined, started going to local watch parties with AO Chattanooga, and went to my first United States game in person and experienced an AO supporters’ section.
That first national team game was in Jacksonville, Florida. It was the USMNT vs Nigeria, the final game before the World Cup in Brazil. I met so many online friends in person for the first time at this game, and I was hooked.
Since then, I have seen the USMNT in Hamilton (Canada), Kingston (Jamaica), St. George (Grenada), San Jose (Costa Rica), California, Texas, Ohio, Florida, Illinois, and many other states.
I am now Vice President of AO Chattanooga. You will always find me with the American Outlaws if I am at the match. The chance to support our players and make the opponent feel the pressure has created some of the most meaningful sporting moments I have experienced. I have had the privilege to help capo and build the in-stadium atmosphere since 2015. I am proud of what we have accomplished and how we have grown. I cannot wait to see what continues to be built by the American Outlaws and US Soccer supporters in general.
A New Family
In my experience, the American Outlaws is a community of welcoming and wonderful people. I have met so many wonderful humans who care deeply about supporting our national teams in tangible ways. From capos and drums to writing chants and painting banners, the work never stops. And this does not even mention the thousands of miles of travel and hundreds of watch parties that are hosted with every game played.
I hear from my American Outlaws friends literally every day. I have attended weddings, honeymoons, non-gameday trips, and so many gameday trips with people who I now consider my family. Through soccer, I found my people both nationally and locally. I am forever grateful for the unbelievable moments shared and hard work that goes on week in and week out. I cannot wait to see everyone at the next game I attend, where I will once again walk into a group of people - my AO Family - who I am connected to by soccer, but I am as connected to them as to anyone in my life. With them, I am home.
This summer I went to the semi-final of the Concacaf Nations League vs Mexico in Las Vegas. It was intense and beautiful. Surrounded by some of the people I hold most dear, we lived the highest of highs in dominating our biggest rival. It was worth every ounce of sweat and every dollar spent. I cannot wait to do it again soon.
For game days that I am present at, it often begins with in-stadium setup and then a nervous pregame seeing old friends and making new ones. I always try to don United States colors from head to toe, and the choice of jersey is always superstitious. Usually, I pick the same pants, shoes, and hat, but the jersey often changes.
The Highest Highs
The photos are mostly from the Mexico match I went to with my American Outlaws family. This includes Max Croes, a fellow capo who “would like you to be more passionate about American Soccer”, and drummer Ryan Shirah. For this game, I was accompanied by my wife, Ella, and my two good friends, Davis and Jamion, from Chattanooga.
Jamion and Davis had never been to a US game with me. It was Jamion’s first-ever United States match! It was incredible to share that with them. I introduced them to some of my AO Family, and we got to live that game together. They are massive parts of the CFC soccer community, so it was cool to have my two soccer worlds interact (AO and the Chattahooligans) even just for a day. Our embrace after Pulisic’s first goal could never be recreated with the same passion and fervor and gives me goosebumps even now thinking about it. It is a shared experience that you can never take away from us now.
Ella and I discovered AO as a freshly married couple, and we have now traveled all over the world with people we now consider family. Every time we go to a city for a game, we see some of the same people, and we are so grateful for their impact on our lives. Max Croes (always standing on a seat and imploring the crowd to cheer and sing) is a dear friend who embodies what it means to be a great American. His friendship makes me a better human and inspires me to strive to be better. Ryan Shirah is the embodiment of commitment to the United States. His travels make me look like a casual fan. His devotion to the process of making the in-stadium atmosphere the best it can be is unbelievable. It truly takes everyone to make AO and gameday special, and these are just two of many, but I was so grateful to again share the game with them.
We saw possibly the most lopsided win in United States v Mexico men’s history. Sports give you a chance to experience beautiful emotions, both highs and lows, and that day was filled with highs.
Making Chattanooga A Better Place
In 2014 I also went to my first Chattanooga FC (CFC) game at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. From that first game, my wife and I have built our lives around the CFC season. At the time CFC was an amateur team who played in two straight National Finals and played 10-15 games in the three-month summer season, but since 2019 has been a fully professional team playing 30+ games over nine months each season.
Every CFC gameday is blocked off on our calendar. The Chattahooligans and CFC embody everything that is good about soccer. CFC’s mission statement includes “making Chattanooga a better place through soccer” and that has always resonated with me. Through CFC and soccer, I found the community that I love most - the family I choose. Ella and I found people we choose to do life with, who share values we cherish and experiences we cannot replicate, both on and off the field.
Soccer and the communities that surround it are some of the most meaningful connections I have in this lifetime. The people who surround CFC and CFC itself make me strive to be a better person. I play soccer twice a week at fields built and run by my local club, I do a podcast about CFC and with CFC fans and players, and I work with many others to build community and make Chattanooga a better place through soccer.
Without soccer, I do not know what my life would look like. The emotions, the highs and lows, but also the purpose that it gives and the community that it offers, are irreplaceable. I realize that soccer does not necessarily play this same role for everyone, and I can only speak about what I have experienced. But I know many people in Chattanooga and in AO chapters all over the country have found deeper meaning through sports. It is identity, it is love and acceptance, and it is pride that goes deeper than just wins and losses.
American Soccer’s Second Act
I want to attend the World Cup in 2026 and help soccer leave a bigger mark on the United States. I have never been to a World Cup, and unfortunately the Women’s World Cup this summer in New Zealand and Australia is not doable for us, but in 2026 I plan to be at every US game. For CFC, I want my community to thrive. I want Chattanooga to be made a better place through sport, and I want to see folks have the same connections and experience the beautiful community that I have. Soccer has been an immensely positive thing in my adult life, and I only wish I had grown up playing so I was a better player!
I think we are in American soccer’s second act. The first act started with the 1994 World Cup and the founding of MLS in 1996. Now MLS is well established, the academies are churning out talent and soccer-specific stadiums dot the landscape, but what about the smaller communities? That is act two - the Chattanoogas of the world having the opportunity to make their communities better through sport and offer representation for those communities through sport.
Currently, for major league professional sports you need to live in a big city, but soccer is the world’s game and all over the world you see smaller communities attached to their clubs. Here’s to hoping that as time goes on, more communities can have clubs to rally around, that authentically represent their communities, that are truly worth folks building their lives around, and that add to their communities rather than taking from them.
