They say Central Jersey doesn’t exist – there’s only North and South. Those that started Real Central New Jersey would beg to differ. Amidst the soccer hotbeds at either end of the state, there’s an oasis for players and fans from this often-overlooked area that’s sprouted over the last three years.

In 2020, Bloomberg’s Chief US Interest Rate Strategist – and longtime soccer supporter – Ira Jersey set out to build a club for his community. His playing days may have long been gone, but his dream to see soccer flourish in the U.S. burned brighter than ever. Since those initial conversations to get a club off the ground, Real Central New Jersey has slowly become a staple for those in the area looking to take their first steps in the soccer world – from players to owners to creators.

Ahead of their 2023 USL2 season debut, we caught up with founder Ira Jersey, now pro player Wesley Leggett, and RCNJ team photographer Ben Rowe to get insight on the early years of the team, how the club has changed them and their community, as well as the ambitious plans that RCNJ has for the future. Through it all, we get a glimpse at the massive undertaking that is building a club off the ground, and how soccer can thrive in the unlikeliest corners of North America.

Ira Jersey

How does the Chief US Interest Rate Strategist at Bloomberg come to start a USL soccer club? Where did this love for soccer come from?

I’ve been playing my entire life, but one of the moments that really sticks out is when the New York Cosmos visited my club team all the way back in the 70s. We got to see Pele do a lot of tricks, and I think that’s one of the moments that really made me fall in love with the sport. Growing up, I ended up playing travel soccer, high school, college, and I even tried out for some professional teams over in England at the U-19 level. Through those experiences playing and being involved with soccer for about forty years, I think I’ve realized that we’ve [meaning US players] always been behind when it comes to the speed of play and mental ability. We’ve made many improvements over the years, and thankfully the development here in the States now teaches those things. That’s what allowed us to compete at an even greater level than ever before, and we’re at a pivotal moment in our progression as a soccer country.

Why did you eventually decide to start a club?

It just felt like the natural thing to do, to be honest. After college, I wanted to stay involved with the game, so I started coaching for a bit and refereeing as well. As my kids were growing up, I coached travel soccer for about a decade, and I wanted to get even more involved with the sport after my kids kind of got better than what I could coach. They went on to play in other academies, but I really wanted to stay involved with soccer – I wanted to do even more than what I had been doing. So I started looking for pre-professional teams in my area to volunteer for. After some digging, I realized there wasn’t a team within an hour of my house. I knew I wasn’t going to be traveling an hour for a volunteer job, and I just kept thinking, ‘How does Mercer County, NJ, not have a team? We have Rutgers, Rider University, and tons of pro players that have come out of this area, but how come we don’t have a place for these players to develop locally?’

How does one go from wanting to start a club to actually doing it?

There were obviously a lot of questions as to the financial commitment and time commitment that it would entail. But when people are passionate about something, they find the time and the resources to do things. We were really positive about where this could go, so we started reaching out to others in early 2020. Then the pandemic happened, which actually worked a bit in our favor.

A few soccer-passionate people joined in and volunteered to join as owners. One of them offered to run a women’s program which played in the Women’s Premier Soccer League or WPSL.

People weren’t commuting, there weren’t after-school activities or anything like that, so suddenly we all had time to really figure out the logistics. We had all of 2020 to ramp up, find sponsors, and organize things. We hired some interns, and we really empowered them to make this club whatever they wanted - a team from their own community to look like. Our name was actually the idea of one of our interns. We had others come in and help on the creative side of things, on the marketing aspect, operations, you name it.

What did the first two years look like for the club? Obviously with the pandemic, it must have been challenging to get the team off the ground and into playing.

Since we have USL and WPSL teams, we don’t charge our players, so we’re reliant on sponsorships and fans. The problem is that going into that first season, we didn’t know if we’d be allowed to have fans in the stadiums – so we hadn’t sold any tickets. On top of that, almost no one wanted to sponsor event-based organizations. There really wasn’t a lot of money coming in, so the pandemic really cost us in the financial sense, but also in terms of momentum. We weren’t able to get out in the community in the way we had envisioned.

That being said, 2022 was much better. We were able to bring back some of our old sponsors, and we were able to bring in some great new ones as well. We averaged about 200 fans a game, and that was considering a couple of them were played in rain. So we actually had pretty good attendance. On top of that, I think local businesses are understanding what we’re trying to accomplish. We’re trying to make sure that our players get the recognition they deserve, so now we’re at a point where we want to develop a seamless path to the pro level. Even just a couple of years in, you’re already seeing some of our players make that jump to the professional level, and I think that speaks volumes to what all of us have been able to build here.

What does the day-to-day look like for you as owner?

I spend about every waking hour that I’m not at my day job working on some aspect of the club. Our season runs from May to July, so there’s a pretty set cadence on what the year looks like. Ahead of the season, it’s all about trying to secure sponsorships and trying to get as many fans as possible to sign up for tickets. On those off seasons, it’s also about seeing how we can make the experience for our fans and players better. We recently coordinated to move to a new venue where we’ll have better food and drinks options, hopefully a beer garden, the whole thing. So it’s all about making those things happen. While all of that is going on, we also have to look into rostering players, recruiting, and running tryouts. Since I’m a big soccer guy I love to be able to support anything that has to do with recruitment. This season we’ll have a German player and a Japanese player join our squad, so we also have to deal with the US Soccer Federation to register them appropriately. There’s always so many things going on, and I like being able to play a part in them.

What’s been the most rewarding part about starting this club and seeing it grow?

The most special thing is when the players come up to me and say thank you. Or when a fan comes up and says it’s nice to have this quality of soccer right here at home. That makes all the effort worthwhile. I know a lot of players really value that we don’t try to just be like any other team that plays in the summer. We want it to be as close as possible to a fully professional environment, so that then they can make the jump. And that doesn’t only help the players but it helps everyone who works in this organization. The interns at all the departments gain so much experience and a few of them have already had the chance to climb to bigger leagues. Seeing that people from this community who love soccer have a chance to grow in this space is so special.

What are some of the goals that you have now looking ahead to this season and the rest of 2023?

On the field, we want our Men’s side to make the playoffs, and we’d like our Women’s side to win the division again. Off the field, our goal is to average 400 fans a game. With those numbers we’ll break even, and that’s the ultimate goal from a financial standpoint. If we make that, we’re sustainable forever.

How about joining USL League One?

We do have an expansion agreement with USL to join the USL Super League and USL League One. So we’re working on putting an ownership group together. There’s a lot of preliminary interest, but still not at the level that we’d need. The league requires that you have one large investor with a very high net worth to even make it possible to join the league, and that’s what we’re missing. We have a path to a stadium, we have a business plan, and once we hit the ground running, we should be able to break even within a reasonable number of years. All of those things are going well, but now the challenge is finding that primary owner with a high enough net worth. If we find the right person this year, we could be on track to start playing in League One and the Super League in 2026, just before the World Cup. I think our demographic in this area has historically been able to support minor league sports teams pretty well, so I’m excited about getting the possibility to take this team to that full professional level.

Wesley Leggett

As a player, what brought you to the club in the first place? How did you hear about them and how did you start playing for them?

I was playing for St. John’s at the time, and I remember my coaches in the spring of 2021 telling me about this new club coming up in this area. The team was ten minutes from my house, so I knew I had to play there. It was the summer before my junior year of college, and I wanted to play over the summer at a level where I knew there was going to be competition from other quality college players or graduates working their way up the pro ladder.

What was it like to jump into that new environment?

I had just gotten out of school, so I only had the chance to practice once with the team before my first game. It was something crazy like that. But I approached all the games like I would have at college. I knew I was playing against some of the top players from good programs around the country, so I knew I had to hold myself to a high standard. I think having that experience over the summer propelled me to stay in excellent shape and form, which then carried onto my college season the following semester.

You got to play for the club in the first two seasons, so you got to see some of that growth in the fanbase. What was that like?

There was a big increase in fan turnout from year one to year two. It was really special to see that because I’m from the area, and I felt like my own community was backing all of us players who were chasing the dream of going pro. Seeing all the fans gave us that extra boost we needed, and it was just like a full-circle moment. A lot of my friends and family could go and see me play – you don’t get that all the time. I would look up to the stands and see my hometown friends. It doesn’t get better than that.

When you look back at your two years with the club, how do you think the club helped you develop as a player?

Iron sharpens iron. You’re ultimately playing against some of the top collegiate talents. These are guys serious about their development if they’re spending their summers wanting to play at this level. There’s so many benefits to playing over the summer, and it helped me tremendously to get to where I am today. Honestly, I think every coach and every team you play for helps build you up in one way or another. With RCNJ, I learned that no matter how good you are at something, there’s always something to improve on. At the end of my college seasons, my coaches would tell me something to work on, and I’d have the chance to try and polish that in real games thanks to this club.

What’s your best memory from playing with RCNJ?

It’s gotta be against our game against Philly Lone Star. We made a crazy comeback to win 5-4, and I scored a great goal. That was a crazy game, but there’s honestly so many that stand out. I also really liked the overall environment that the club fostered. The culture just feels good. It’s the pre-professional level but the club treated us in a way that would make us feel like professionals. Who doesn’t like feeling that way, you know? It makes you want to chase that dream even more.

This winter you ended up signing your first pro contract with Loudoun United. How did you feel ahead of your first pro season?

I didn’t feel nervous, I was more just anxious to play. I got to train with them at the end of 2022, so I was already acclimated somewhat. I was just so excited to get started and hit the ground running.

What are some goals you have for this season?

I want to help the team as much as I can – whether that’s goals, assists, good runs, whatever it is. I want to do whatever I can to win as many games as possible with Loudoun, hopefully make the playoffs, and why not try for the title? I’m here to grow and just help the team in whatever capacity.

Looking further down the road, I also just want to push to keep climbing to the pros. I want to get a shot with the DC United first team. I’ve had the chance to train with them a couple of times, and I love being able to absorb all of that information to incorporate into my game. It’s funny, the first time I trained with DCU it was in the middle of the USL2 season. So I was playing with Real Central then went to train with DC United and I did really well. That just shows the level of play that the club has. But I just want to continue on that path to the top flight. I’ve had the chance to take gradual steps, and I think I’m gradually getting there.

Ben Rowe

How did you first hear of the club, and what made you join?

I was actually photographing a game for my friend over at a local youth club. Ira’s son happened to be playing on that same team, so Ira came up to me at halftime to introduce himself. He asked me about the type of photography that I did, and he eventually let me know about RCNJ and the project that they had going on. He told me they were looking for interns, and of course I’m a huge soccer fan, so I took the opportunity.

What has that opportunity been like for you?

It’s given me the perfect chance to improve my skills as a photographer and as a creative. They’ve allowed me to tell the story of the game at a much higher level than I’d been able to at that point, so it was really special for me. It meant even more knowing that it was for a club right at home.

On top of that, I was only a junior in high school when I joined the club, so I was a bit younger than everyone else. Everyone welcomed me with open arms, and I was over the moon to get to shoot my first game at that level. At that point it was the highest level I’d ever shot, so it meant a lot to be able to have that opportunity and grow as a photographer. Ever since that first game, I’ve felt attached to the club.

What are some of the projects you’ve worked on?

I do a lot of the Content and Communications side of things for the club, so that involves me wearing many different hats. I do photos, graphic design, I’ve developed some content creation systems for the club as well. My overall goal really is to try to build out the story and the brand of Real Central New Jersey through creative content. For me to be able to document the club’s growth through these formative years is huge, and I take that as a great honor. This time period is something that we’ll be able to look back on years down the road, and I get to play an important part in documenting and preserving that history.

What are some goals you have with the club looking towards the future?

If the possibility arises, I would love to be able to lead the club from a creative standpoint. I’m doing my part now, but I would love to play a bigger role in growing the club. More importantly, I’d also just like to grow with the club from a personal standpoint. I want to continue deepening the connections I’ve made with the staff, the players, and the fans. They all mean so much to me, and the club in general means so much to me. It’s my local club.

What do you think makes RCNJ special?

You see it every time you’re at a game or at a training. All of us here have big aspirations to grow as an organization and also individually. RCNJ has kind of given us that avenue to pursue whatever we want to pursue, and that’s why I think the bonds between everyone at the club are so strong. We all want to see each other succeed. I think that’s what separates these types of local clubs from maybe bigger ones in other leagues.

It’s also been great to see that those strong bonds that already form within the organization are also spreading out to the community and to younger generations. I’ve had the chance to see how the crowds have grown over the past couple of years, and now you see the club hosting community events and things like that that really bring everybody together. Maybe it’s not exactly like what Ira experienced with Pele at the Cosmos but it’s something that goes a long way. Ever since those events and outreach into the community, you see kids showing up to games or to player signings. The club is reaching out and inspiring a younger audience in whatever way it can, and I think that’s really special. I know this club will continue on this path, and I know everything we do now will have an impact down the road for soccer in Central Jersey.

Photography by: Ben Rowe