LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – It can start with one drum and grow into the roar of a crowd.
That’s the story of the American Outlaws–or AO–which ranges from Anchorage to London. It all started right here, in Lincoln, where a different kind of football is king.
“You’re kind of like football fans here or baseball fans or college football et cetera,” said Justin Brunken, co-founder of AO. “Well, no one really thought of soccer fans here in Lincoln, Nebraska. So we’re kind of like the outliers of sports. So that’s where American outlaws came from.”
Brunken and Korey Donahoo started the group in 2007, hoping to create a community and network for soccer fans.
“The experiences that you remember for a lifetime don’t happen by yourself,” Brunken said. “They happened with another one-hundred people celebrating a goal. Like that is the memorable experience you’re going to talk to everyone about.”
From its headquarters in south Lincoln, AO now sends out 30,000 member kits to its more than 200 chapters.
The cost of membership is $30 a year and comes with the perk of a t-shirt and five dollars towards the local AO chapter.
Lincoln chapter president Trevin Wurm says he’s looking forward to this week, especially the Black Friday game against England.
“We’re really excited to see what we can do this time around against Lincoln,” Wurm said. “We have a lot more talent and a lot more depth in our players this time around.”
Lincoln’s chapter has around 400 members and Wurm said he expects most of them to come to one of the three watch parties around town on Monday and Friday.
Trevin traveled with AO to France in 2019 to watch the Women’s World Cup. There, thousands of AO members took the streets of Paris.
“We kind of show off the diversity of our country and the diversity of our organization to have these people come in from all over the country,” Wurm said. “You see familiar faces anytime you go somewhere. They create this tense atmosphere during the game.”
The AO watch parties will be at Rosie’s Downtown, the Railyard and Captain Jack’s. The US team plays at 1 pm on both Monday and Friday.
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