BY LAURA HETTRICK



Eight-year-old John Wilson sat on the sidelines of his friend’s soccer practice while waiting for his mom to pick him up. The coach asked if he wanted to join in, so Wilson gave it a shot. Little did anyone know that he would later go on to win three championships with the Charleston Battery.
     Since that day, Wilson’s dream has been to play soccer, and it seems he’s not quite ready to give it up. He has announced his retirement from the Charleston Battery twice already, but it never seems to stick. Maybe it’s the sweet taste of success in his three championships, or maybe it’s the feeling he gets playing in his home state. His heart has always been in the game and in the beautiful state of South Carolina.

     Wilson grew up in Seneca, S.C., a town and state where American football was much more important than soccer. He played for his high school and on travel teams. “At the time I was deciding where to play, I was playing club soccer where there’s a lot of traveling, so my parents didn’t get to see me play a lot,” Wilson says with tinge of sadness. His family was the most important thing to him and ended up deciding much of his future. Although South Carolina was not known for its soccer, he had faith in his family and home state.​

     “My parents just wanted me to play for fun. They understood the big picture—that I enjoyed playing—even if they couldn’t see me play that much,” he explains. “That’s really where everything started. They really gave me the opportunity to play.”
     He went to Clemson University in the hope that being close to home would allow his family and friends to see him play more. He went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1998 with his team at Clemson. “Those experiences are great because you never know if you’ll get the chance to win again,” Wilson explains. “Whether it’s in college or a professional league, you don’t know.”
     Out of college, Wilson was drafted by the Charleston Battery and a Major League Soccer (MLS) team in Kansas City. He played one season in his hometown state and decided to head off to Kansas. “I went to the camp in Kansas City and it didn’t work out as planned, but Charleston had my rights so they brought me back in,” Wilson says. He went on to win a championship with the Battery in 2003 after playing on the club for three years.
     Wilson jumped around the country until he landed on the MLS team D.C. United. He played there for three years until he was injured. “When I got hurt playing in D.C., they [Charleston] were the first to call and see if I could go on to play again,” he says. “It’s one of those places where I can always be welcomed back and work on my game.” He went back to the Battery and won two more championships with them.
     It seems that the Battery and Wilson have a magnetic connection with each other. No matter how often he goes away or tries to retire, he is always pulled back to this city. “The most rewarding experience with this team is being able to play in my home state and have … former teammates I grew up with or people who’ve seen me play since a young age being able to come to some of my games.”
     His fans shouldn’t worry about him leaving anytime soon. “I think it’s my passion to stay in the game,” Wilson says. “I know for a while that I wanted to get out of the game, but I think it’s meant for me to stay in it.”