There’ve been hundreds of sasquatch sightings in the High Country around Boone, North Carolina in recent weeks. Far from causing alarm, the resulting emotions land somewhere in the neighborhood of excitement, anticipation and generalized Open Cup buzz.
“We’ve got the community engaged here,” said Michael Hitchcock, famed lower-league soccer impresario and Appalachian FC co-owner and founder, about the campaign to promote the amateur club’s First Round U.S. Open Cup home game at Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex on March 19th. “You can’t turn your head around here and not see one of our posters – there’s 500 up at last count.”
The symbol of the NPSL-based amateur club is, aptly, given the surroundings, a bigfoot. He’s 90 percent of the club’s crest. He’s everywhere on gameday and all over the club’s merchandise, which produces much of the revenue that allows Appalachian FC to operate. The latest Sasquatch-themed delight is a training top, specifically for the 2025 Open Cup, which turns its wearer at least part-sasquatch (see above). You can (and should) buy one here.
It will take some doing to surpass the approximately 2000 folks who turned out the last time Appalachian FC side lined up at home in a Cup game. That was back in 2023 and also in the First Round. But the Squatchiest Club in World Soccer is out to show what they’ve got cooking. And belief in the squad – and through all the mountains beyond – is high.
Bigfoot is out there, he’s dragging the oldest soccer prize in this country’s history in his huge right fist, getting the word out about the big Open Cup day coming to Boone.
“We’ve got a USL League One (Div. III pro) team coming to Boone for a proper football match in this country’s oldest and most fun tournament,” summed up Dale Parker, who coaches the men’s team at Greenwood, South Carolina’s Lander University in the Fall and makes the 200-mile trip to Boone for the summers to work the touchline for Appalachian FC.
Parker’s accent is well east of the mountain twang of Greater Appalachia. It’s from a place called Worksop, Nottinghamshire in England (near Sheffield). But don’t think for a minute he’s an import devoid of connections and passion for this High Country. Recruited to play college soccer for Lees-McRae College in the nearby town of Banner Elk, Parker set his roots down deep in Appalachia– falling in love with and marrying one of its daughters.
“My in-laws are on either side of Boone in North Carolina and Tennessee,” said Parker, who’s coached Appalachian FC since the club’s birth in 2021 from the ashes of the shuttering of the local men’s college side at Appalachian State University. “It was an instant love affair for me with this place. I always wanted to come back for the summers and be involved with whatever was going on here – to help build the game and make it bigger here.”
In truth, it’s a part of the world that’s easy enough to fall in love with. A place where distance is measured in peaks. The way the light filters through the trees lining the Blue Ridge Parkway will make you believe in magic.
Parker has challenges ahead of his First Round game against One Knoxville SC, the tennessee-based Division III side. And it will take more than belief and pretty lighting to get the better of a side comprised of pros who train every day and make their living in the game.
“We’re putting together a team on the fly,” the coach said, pointing out that most of his regular players for the NPSL season are pulled from the college ranks and unavailable at this time of year. “There’s a few returning players from previous seasons but a lot of new guys too. We’ll have to fly them in from all over the country.”
“A lot of good players, many who I’ve known through the years, are coming to me,” Parker added. “This is something they want to be a part of”
For Hitchcock, it’s a matter of pulling out the credit card. “Lodging, planes, meals – It takes a lot to pull a good team together for something like this,” he admitted. “But it’s worth it for such a special and unique tournament and opportunity.”
Lucky for him, Boone is a community that pulls together in a pinch. It’s a lesson all were reminded of in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which tore through the area in September of last year. “Amazingly our field just happened to be in an area that wasn’t damaged,” said Hitchcock, shaking his head. “But our club shop was destroyed, totally, we lost 20k in revenue at least from that.”
Some merchandise survived, however, and Hitchcock donated all the proceeds from the sale of the undamaged goods to local families. “You’re an Appalachian FC fan, you have a bill to pay, come see us and we’ll help you out,” was the efficient method employed.
It’s a pervasive vibe in the area – the instinct to help out your neighbor. It’s getting paid back to the Appalachian FC folks in spades, too, in the lead-up to the big Open Cup First Rounder. “Hosting is amazing, but it's not easy,” said Hitchcock, pointing out the way local businesses have extended a helping hand as the club builds a squad from the area and beyond. “All their meals are being covered by local restaurants and hotel rooms are being donated by local partners.”
The sense of chipping in is palpable at the club – of many hands making light work.
One of the players in the squad is a very familiar face. You can hear Rashawn Kellman’s smile even through a crackling phone line. The twang around the edges of his accent are, like Parker, not of these mountains. The sturdy center-back hails from the Caribbean island paradise of Barbados, but he’s spent the last five summers in Boone.
Kellman fell in love just like his coach did. He’s been bewitched by the charms of the High Country – by the promise of its little soccer club and the people who love it.
“Being with this club from the beginning means a lot to me,” said the sturdy defender and firm fan favorite for the thousands who show up to cheer on the boys every weekend through the summer months. “For me, the weather is perfect and the people are so friendly and welcoming – you’ve got the mountains and the scenery.
“It’s an easy place to love, I have to say,” said Kellman. “I wouldn’t keep coming back if it wasn’t.”
Parker and co are coming off a standout season last year. App FC went unbeaten in the regular NPSL season before a poor performance in the Conference Final ended hopes of a national title. “The numbers have been incredible,” the coach said of the fan turnout last year. “Last season we saw some of the biggest crowds we’ve ever had and we’re expecting more for the Cup.”
“For the supporters and the club, the whole community, this is such an amazing opportunity,” said Coach Parker of the possibility of a run in the Open Cup. “We’re not afraid of playing a pro team. We’re not worried about maybe not advancing. This is what we all want. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Hitchcock, always on the move and shuttling between his tiny dream factories that dot the American lower-league soccer map, knows what it all means. “Last time the Open Cup was here we had thousands, the hills were packed with people standing and watching,” he said. “If you closed your eyes you would think you were at some cool European club match and not here in the middle of the High Country.”
“These early rounds are magic.” added Hitchcock. “These are the best stories – you roll a ball out and anything can happen. They can’t scout us. They don’t know who’s showing up, because we barely do – because we’re a little town finding its way back after a big hurricane.”
Captain Kellman has the final word on the matter. “We just want to put our best foot forward and see if we can’t make a surprise,” said the leader of this plucky club in the heart of an America so often overlooked. “This club is growing all the time and the fans are always with us – and we need them.”
Angelo Maduro is a senior reporter at large for www.ussoccer.com/us-open-cup.