First-ever South Asian TST team highlights tournament's global influence

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Players, coaches and fans from across the world are descending on the Triangle this week for The Soccer Tournament (TST), the seven-on-seven soccer event where dozens of men's and women's teams will vie for $1 million prizes at WakeMed Soccer Park.

On Tuesday, ABC11 sat down with one of the men's teams in this year's field of 48, which has the distinction of being the first TST team ever comprised solely of players of South Asian descent -- specifically India and Pakistan.

"When we go back to our clubs, our colleges, our universities and wherever we go back home, people are going to ask how it was and it's just going to have a trickle effect," said Amrik Singh Hare, head coach for Brown Ballers FC, describing the tournament's growing global influence.

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ABC11 spoke with members of Brown Ballers at their team hotel, where there was a medley of languages as teams from around the globe settled in for what they hoped would be a victorious week at the tournament.

"It feels like a mini Club World Cup or a mini World Cup," said Hare. "You've got players like, they've got flags littered through WakeMed Park."

For the longtime soccer coach, who's been with Brown Ballers for several months preparing for TST, representation is important -- but so is growing the game he loves.

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"We all represent the subcontinent of South Asia, but we are all footballers and soccer players at the end of the day that want to just kind of make a mark as individual players, collectively as a team," he said.

Brown Ballers FC is the first-ever South Asian team at the 7-on-7 tournament. Originally founded five years ago as a platform to promote and cover athletes from countries such as India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, Brown Ballers has since grown in scope and influence. The brand previously sponsored basketball teams at TBT and has a social-media presence with more than 100,000 followers. Their team at TST rosters players of Indian and Pakistani descent who flew in everywhere from Louisiana to London.

"We're representing a lot of people here, and just to show everyone that us as brown athletes, we can also play, I think it means a lot to people from here and people back home," said Avaneesh Kamath, a defender with Brown Ballers.

Kamath was born in Charlotte but grew up playing soccer in Southern India before being recruited to play collegiate soccer in the US. Avaneesh said he's aware there's more than a cash prize at stake this week.

"I think if we, if we can come out here and make a statement and hopefully inspire a lot of people to keep going and keep playing and seeing this as a career opportunity, I think that's our job done," Kamath said.

His teammate, midfielder Rubyn Singh Gill, feels that way, too.

"Just having the opportunity to sort of show others that we can break barriers and, you know, you deserve to be here as well, it means a lot to me," Gill said.

The 25-year-old midfielder flew in from Leicester, England, where he plays professionally in an indoor soccer league. He said he's already received messages from South Asian fans excited to see Brown Ballers FC on the TST stage for the first time.

"It makes you realize like it's bigger than you," he said. "There's a community out there that are looking up to you because you're putting yourself on the platform and you're showing them that they can also do it."