News

This week’s Blackbaud Non Profit of the Match is Operation Home. Operation Home’s mission is to increase the safety and accessibility of people’s homes by providing critical repairs for low-income residents. The organization serves residents of Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester Counties.

The Charleston Battery caught up with Miriam Langley, the Executive Director of Operation home to learn more about what the organization does and how it operates.

CB: What does the process look like for making repairs in homes? How long does a repair typically take? How many people work on one home? 

Operation Home’s mission is to help people remain in their homes by increasing safety and accessibility. This year Operation Home will serve more than 200 low-income families through critical home repairs, building wheelchair ramps, and distributing heating and air conditioning units. Nearly half of the households Operation Home serves have children in the home, 59% have seniors and 73% have a disabled family member.  The average monthly income for Operation Home families is $929.

Individuals in need of Operation Home’s services are often referred by nonprofit partners, home health organizations, area churches, utility companies, schools and many other social service agencies.  Critical home repairs consist of roof work, bathroom modification and floor work.  Operation Home partners with local contracting firms to perform critical home repairs and the time it takes to complete a repair depends on the scope of the work for that particular project.

CB: About how many members of the Charleston community has Operation Home helped? 

This year Operation Home will serve more than 200 low-income families through critical home repairs, building wheelchair ramps, and distributing heating and air conditioning units.

CB: How does Operation Home choose who to help? 

Operation Home focuses on the people who need us the most: families with children, a person with a disability, or an older adult.

CB: How is Operation Home funded? 

Operation Home is supported by the generosity of individuals, private and corporate foundations, government grants, civic and religious organizations and revenues from special event fundraisers.

CB: What can Battery fans do to get involved and support Operation Home?

Please visit Operation Home’s website, operationhome.org to learn more about our mission.  Operation Home needs volunteer support and much awareness for our mission!

CHARLESTON, SC –  The Charleston Battery will take on the Nigerian Olympic team in an international exhibition this summer at Silverbacks Park in Atlanta, Georgia. The two teams will meet on July 16th, three weeks before Nigeria’s opening match at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and ten days after the Battery’s match with Rangers FC.

The Rio Games will be Nigeria’s seventh appearance at the Olympics. Nigeria won the gold medal twenty years ago at the 1996 iteration of the Games in Atlanta and finished second in 2008 in Beijing, making it one of only two African countries to medal at the Olympics in soccer.

Coach Anhaeuser commented, “We’re excited to play against the number one U23 team in Africa. The match gives us an opportunity to play against a team that will be competing for a gold medal in August while we get to see some of the most talented young players in Nigeria.”  

Olympic men’s soccer teams are made up of U23 players and three overage players. Nigeria hasn’t named its squad yet, but it’s likely Arsenal striker Alex Iwobi will be involved. The 19-year old made 13 appearances and scored two goals for Arsenal in his first year with the senior team in 2016. Iwobi played for England at the youth level before electing to play for Nigeria at the senior level, making his full debut in 2015.

Watford striker Odion Ingahlo has been named as one of the three overage players that will travel to Rio. The 27-year old attacker has scored 32 goals in 64 appearances in the Championship and English Premiere League over the last two years with Watford.

Nigeria head coach Samson Siasia commented, “It’s important for us to have as much playing time as possible before going to Rio so we can evaluate our players. We won our gold medal in Atlanta in 1996, so playing there this summer will bring back good memories. The environment will bring out the distinctive playing style Nigeria is known for.”     

The international friendly will provide fans of Atlanta United FC, the Battery’s MLS affiliate, with an opportunity to see the team’s first signing in history play in person. The match against Nigeria will be the first time goalkeeper Alex Tambakis takes the field in Atlanta. In addition to Tambakis, Atlanta United Academy players could feature in the match for the Battery. Recently signed Atlanta United Homegrown player Andrew Carleton and Chris Goslin made appearances for Charleston during preseason in February.

The match kicks off at 8:00pm on July 16th at Silverbacks Park. Battery fans can purchase discounted tickets HERE or by visiting http://unitedsoccerafrica.com and applying the promo code BATTERY20 after selecting seats. Sections 102 and 103 of the stadium are designated as away sections.

Top Image: Gilson Borba Photo

The Battery takes on the Harrisburg City Islanders tomorrow night at MUSC Health Stadium looking for its first win at home since a 2-0 victory over Toronto FC II on May 14th. Despite earning three points of a possible nine over the last three weeks, Charleston sits in a good position in the league table.

Charleston recently lost back-to-back home games for the first time in over five years, but is still in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Battery is eight points off league-leaders Louisville City FC and two points ahead of long-time rival Richmond Kickers who sit in fifth.  The consecutive losses came on May 28th against Louisville and last week against USL newcomers Orlando City B. A win in Pittsburgh between the two losses kept the Battery firmly in mix in the top four.

Harrisburg is at the opposite end of the table in 11th place. The City Islanders have four wins, eight losses, and a draw this season. The match in Charleston on Saturday is Harrisburg’s fourth straight on the road, going winless in the previous three. During the stint on the road, the Islanders only mustered two goals three games in losses to FC Cincinnati, Wilmington, and New York Red Bulls II.

The Battery was victorious in the previous meeting between the two teams, defeating the hosts 3-2 by way of a late Austin Savage goal. The Eastern Conference rivals traded blows in the back-and-forth match in Central Pennsylvania in early May. Romario Williams and Forrest Lasso scored before Savage’s 80th minute game-winner. Paul Wilson scored a goal in either half for Harrisburg, forcing the Battery to battle back from a one-goal deficit twice.

Wilson is one of City’s most dangerous attacking players. The speedy center forward has appeared in every match this season, scoring four goals and tallying three assists. Wilson and his Jamaican running mate, Craig Foster lead the Harrisburg attack and have been involved in ten of the Islanders’ 18 goals.

Jose Barril plays in behind the Jamaican duo and is currently tied for the league-lead in assists with four. Barril and Wilson combined for both of Harrisburg’s goals in the match against Charleston in May.  The Spanish midfielder is good on the ball and distributes well from the center of the park. His Battery counterparts will have to keep a close eye on him tomorrow night to keep City’s attack at bay.

The Battery attack has grown quiet over the past few weeks, scoring two goals from the run of play in its last four games. Justin Portillo converted a penalty last week against Orlando City B to bring his season total to three, which is the second highest goal total on the team. Charleston’s leading goalscorer, Romario Williams hasn’t found the back of the net since May 14th against TFC II.

The Battery will need Williams, Portillo, and midfielder Maikel Chang to show up big in Saturday’s match. Charleston’s attack hinges on those three players. If the talented trio can pressure on Harrisburg’s defense, the rest of the game will likely shift in favor of the Battery.

Top Image: Heviel Cordoves shields a Pittsburgh defender on 6/4. Terry O’neil photo. 

This week’s Blackbaud Non-Profit of the Match is the Avian Conservation Center. The ACC is dedicated to helping the environment by assisting in the rehabilitation and conservation of injured birds of prey and shorebirds.

The Center will have some of its birds out at the match on Saturday for a demonstration at half time.

We caught up with Daniel Prohaska, the Development Officer at the ACC, to learn more about the Center and how to get involved.

CB: What all does the Avian Conservation Center do aid in the preservation of birds of prey?

The mission of the Center is to identify and address vital environmental issues by providing medical care to injured birds of prey and shorebirds, and through educational, research, and conservation initiatives. The Center treats an average of 600 injured birds of prey and shorebirds each year (more than 7,000 since its beginning in 1991), releasing the majority back into their natural habitat. Although the causes of injuries vary widely, most are human-related – ranging from gunshot wounds to collisions, electric shock from power lines, and secondary poisoning from scavenging behavior. The Center uses these insights and experiences to help the public understand environmental problems and the role birds have in indicating those problems to us through our education programs.

CB: What type of impact do your efforts have on the environment?

The Center is the only comprehensive facility of its kind in the nation combining science, education, research, medical care, captive breeding and oiled bird treatment. This allows the Center to have a unique role in addressing environmental issues. Research programs at the Center focus on a variety of issues related to avian productivity and survivability including an annual Hawk Migration Survey, a long term Swallow-tailed Kite survey, the only federally sanctioned MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity & Survivorship) banding station on the South Atlantic seaboard, research on avian genetics, and numerous toxicity studies. To model environmental conservation, the Center partnered with the Lowcountry Open Land Trust in 2009 to secure a Conservation Easement on the 152 acre campus in Awendaw.

CB: It looks like a big piece of your effort is education, how and what are you teaching people about the birds you have at your facility?

The Center’s standards-based education programs have proven to be a powerful method through which to engage children and adults regarding preservation of wildlife and habitat conservation. Our programs emphasize the point that wild birds are among the world’s most illuminating sentinel species. The rapid and dramatic changes that human activity continuously imposes on the natural landscape have significant, long-term implications for irreplaceable habitat and wild bird populations. Because of their broad distribution, environmental sensitivity, and dependence on a wide range of habitat types, bird populations – and birds of prey in particular – provide critical insight into a growing number of environmental issues including the health of the ecosystem and how well we are managing our natural resources, as a whole. We are defining and fostering a value system, an underlying ethic that will literally determine what of the natural world we will preserve and what will be irrevocably lost.

CB: I know you’ll be doing a Birds of Prey Demonstration at the match on Saturday, do you train the birds at the ACC as well? What’s the training process like?

We train using positive reinforcement. We focus our demonstrations on the natural behaviors that make each group or species unique. Therefore, we are experts at catching the birds doing what we want them to do and rewarding them for it. In most cases, the most difficult behaviors to train are the unnatural ones such as sitting on a human’s fist or traveling in a transport box.

CB: What can Battery fans do to get involved and support the ACC?

12% of all birds worldwide are at risk of becoming extinct in the next 100 years. That’s 50 times the historic rate. We can do something about that, and Battery fans can help. First, we need you to give philanthropically. Every one of the milestones and programs you have heard about requires funding. As a nonprofit organization, every dollar we spend on medical treatment, educational outreach, and research has to be raised every year from people like you who share a passion for this work. You can become a Member at the Center with a gift of $50 or more. Being a Member allows you to be a part of our work and to experience the Center in a unique way.

Second, you can bring a friend to visit us. Our facility is open to the public Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10am until 5pm. We offer two guided walking tours and two flying demonstrations on those days. Admission for adults is $15, $10 for children ages 6 to 17, and complimentary for those under the age of six.

Finally, stay involved through volunteering, attending special events, and learning more about our work. Consider joining our email list or following us on social media (www.facebook.com/scbirdsofprey, Instagram @Centerforbirdsofprey, www.twitter.com/scbirdsofprey). You can visit our web site (www.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org) for updates and event announcements. Also look for forthcoming information about the first migration-focused birding festival in the southeast, Zugunruhe fest, which the Center will host September 15-17, 2016.

The Charleston Battery takes on first-year USL side Orlando City B tomorrow night at MUSC Health Stadium. The Battery comes into the match tied for third place with FC Cincinnati on 21 points, six points behind league-leaders Louisville City FC.

Starting with Saturday’s match, the Battery will play back-to-back home games for the first time this season. Coming off a tough week on the road, Coach Anhaeuser and his team will be happy to spend an extended period of time in Charleston.

The two week stint in Charleston gives the Battery a chance to start a new streak at MUSC Health Stadium after being beaten at home for the first time in over two years on May 28th. Louisville City FC defeated the Battery 2-0 in tough conditions to break Charleston’s 29-game unbeaten streak.

Coach Anhaeuser commented, “We have an opportunity to start a new streak. Things always have to come to an end, but you have to start anew. We want to get off on the right foot against Orlando.”

The Battery rebounded in Pittsburgh last week after losing two consecutive games for the first time this season. Charleston followed up the league loss to Louisville with a heartbreaking extra time defeat in Jacksonville that knocked the team out of the US Open Cup on June 1st. Although the loss to the Armada is disappointing, it allows the Battery to focus solely on the league for the rest of the summer.

Charleston’s veterans led the way in the team’s 2-1 victory over Pittsburgh at Highmark Stadium. Outside back O’Brian Woodbine opened the scoring, converting a penalty in the 33rd minute. The Jamaican defender earned a spot on USL’s Team of the Week for his performance against the RIverhounds.

Center back Taylor Mueller scored his second goal of the year three minutes after Woodbine’s opener off of a long free kick from Michael Chang to double the lead. A Pittsburgh defender mis-cleared Chang’s delivery and the knock-down fell straight to Mueller. The defender made no mistake, volleying the eventual game-winner past the Riverhounds’ goalkeeper.

Orlando City B lost a seven goal thriller at home to Louisville City FC in its previous match. OCB played up a man for the majority of the second half after Louisville’s George Davis IV was sent off for a mistimed challenge. Despite the man-advantage, Orlando gave up three second half goals and lost the match 4-3.

The poor result against Louisville doesn’t reflect OCB’s improvement since its 0-0 draw with Charleston in April. The young team has four wins on the season including two tough victories over traditionally strong USL sides Rochester and Charlotte. The first-year team is beginning to gel and has become more dangerous going forward, which takes some of the pressure off of its more-developed back four. It will be interesting to see how OCB’s youngsters respond to playing on the road in Charleston on Saturday after spending six weeks at home.

OCB’s roster is made up of academy players and loanees from the team’s MLS affiliate. With MLS on a break for the Copa America, many of those loanees will be available for OCB in the match against the Battery.

Tyler Turner is one of the most notable players on loan from Orlando City SC. The outside back has played every minute this season for OCB, scoring three goals and registering an assist in 990 minutes.

Hadji Barry is another loanee that will pose a threat for the Battery, specifically the back four. The pacey forward has the ability to get in behind defenders and score goals. Barry is coming off of a three point performance against Louisville, scoring a goal and adding an assist.

With Orlando currently sitting in ninth place and looking to move up in the table and the Battery only a few points off the top of the league, both teams will be looking for three big points on Saturday night. The match will start at 5:00pm and will be followed by a Copa America watch party at 7:00pm on the 3,000 square foot video board at MUSC Health Stadium.

Kickoff for the Charleston Battery’s match against Orlando City B this Saturday (6/11) has been changed to 5:00pm. Gates will open at 4:00pm.

The Club will broadcast the USA vs Paraguay match following the conclusion of the Battery vs OCB game. The Copa America match starts at 7:00pm and will be shown on the 3,000 square foot video board and in the Three Lions Club. Fans will be able to watch the US match from the field, concessions will remain open throughout the match.

Tickets to the Battery’s match against Orlando City B can be purchased here or over the phone at 843-971-4625.