I understand it now: the Oakland Roots

At the end of April of last year, I spent two weeks housesitting in Oakland. As someone who has had the opportunity to experience soccer in different parts of France and the United States, I took this opportunity to explore the Bay Area’s professional soccer environment. Of course, the first team I had to check out was the Oakland Roots, a team in the United Soccer League, which is the division below MLS. I have been interested in the Oakland Roots for awhile now because of their branding and the way that they are actually embedded into their community. Additionally, after the exit of the Oakland Raiders and the impending exit of the Oakland A’s, I wanted to see up close a team that actually wants to stay in Oakland.

I was in Oakland a few days before the Roots game, and it was immediately clear from walking around the town how much Oaklanders care for the club. I saw more merchandise, whether stickers on cars or hats and shirts, for the Roots than I see for LAFC or LA Galaxy when driving or walking around my hometown of Los Angeles. The clear interest from the community for their local club continued to pique my interest to actually go see the Roots play.

While the Roots will use the Oakland Coliseum for games in this coming USL season, the game I went to was actually in Hayward at Cal State East Bay. Other than dealing with Bay Area traffic, this stadium was easy to access with ample and free parking. Even better, exiting the parking lot was quick and easy, especially when compared to many other sporting events that I have attended in the United States. Adding to the positive experience was the relatively cheap price of the tickets. With origins as a working-class sport, soccer games should always have accessible prices to honor those beginnings.

As I entered the stadium there was a place to buy merchandise, which is a must for me when I visit a new soccer environment to commemorate the moment, but only if it looks cool enough. After that, I continued into what was essentially a concourse area where there was a live band and several food stalls. I got the crispy bacon fried rice from Woo Can Cook which was one of the best stadium meals that I have had. It was also “Clean and Green Night” as a celebration for Earth Day and the Roots had areas where fans could learn how to mitigate climate change.

The game itself wasn’t all that great, with the Roots losing 2-0 to the Colorado Switchbacks. The most exciting aspect of the game for me was the possibility of a recently signed Dom Dwyer making his debut for the team. While this debut didn’t happen, the Oakland Roots ultras helped to make the stadium a fun environment with their chanting and drumming throughout the game.

Although the Roots did not win this game, the experience, from the parking to the food to the stadium itself, was incredibly pleasant and I am excited to see the Roots play at the Oakland Coliseum in the future. It is clear why Oaklanders are eager to show their affiliation with the Roots. Anyone who has a passing interest in soccer and finds themselves in the Bay Area should absolutely find time for a Roots game.