Dothan United: The Team to Watch in 2025
Dothan United aims to build off of their success from last year and build a strong foundation for the future.
As the 2025 season approaches, Dothan United looks to build off of a strong inaugural year. The Dragons finished last season 4-4-4 while recording crowds averaging 5,000 and hosting a crowd of 7,000 for the final match of the season. Under the leadership of Head Coach Carl Reynolds, Dothan brought an exciting atmosphere to a city that had not had a semi-professional sports team in 100 years. So, what’s in store for 2025?
A New Level of Talent
When you sit down and talk with Coach Carl, he stresses the importance of recruiting. Reynolds, who was recently announced as the Assistant Head Coach at Gardner Webb, has made his mark recruiting players both internationally and domestically. The Dragons will see many familiar faces returning, such as homegrown talent like Alec Palanjian, Gabino Morin, Ty Powell, and Diego Sammur, as well as those who have come to call Dothan home such as Yago Darub, Jourdan Schumacher, Alexander Blanche, and Josh Salas. These players played a pivotal role in the success that Dothan had last year and will provide stability for the club moving forward.
Meanwhile, Coaches Carl, Edu Zurita, Tony Marriel, and Kevin Treminio have been hard at work recruiting new faces to come assist in bringing glory to Dothan. While there is still a significant number of players who have yet to be announced, the players who have been announced are enough to turn heads.
The team began by announcing Kyle Grant will be joining Dothan United this summer from Virginia Military Institute. The forward started seven matches for the Keydets, while playing in fifteen total. Over the next few weeks, Dothan United would announce a trio of Eagles will be joining the Dragons from Georgia Southern University. Kevin Pierre Jr., a midfielder, started all 17 matches for the Eagles in 2024, logging 1147 minutes. AJ Pama, a defender, also started all 17 matches for Georgia Southern in 2024, logging 1060 minutes. Lastly, Ryan Holmes was announced to be joining his college teammates in Dothan. Holmes, a forward, also started all 17 matches for Georgia Southern while earning various honors such as Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year, Second Team All Sun Belt, and National Player of the Week on 9/12/24.
Dothan continued its streak of recruiting NCAA division one players by signing Jaden Strumeier, a defender from UNC Wilmington, Ryan Manna, a midfielder who started 18 matches for Elon University, and Mohammed Sumaila, a defender who received All-SoCon Freshman Team honors while playing at UNC Greensboro. Dothan rounded out the division one signings by recruiting Will Noecker, a back who played 19 games for the NC State Wolfpack. However, the Dragons didn’t stop there.
Dothan turned its eyes to enemy territory, recruiting Ivan Gonzalez, a midfielder from Auburn University at Montgomery. After signing him, they turned their attention to a familiar face, bringing in Adrian Rodriguez, a midfielder from Spring Hill College, where Coach Carl spent his USL offseasons, as well as Coach Tony Marriel, who was recently announced as the head coach for Spring Hill. The last signing of Dothan’s impressive recruiting class, as of now, is Jermaine Fordah, former goalkeeper for New Mexico United of the USL Championship.
The recruiting class that Coach Carl and Co. have brought in is certainly impressive on paper, with even more exciting players confirmed to be announced in the coming weeks, but the team will have to work to build chemistry on and off the pitch and put in the effort to succeed in Dothan.
Dothan Is a Soccer City
This time last year, there was not a single person in Dothan who knew what soccer would look like in the Circle City. However, those questions were quickly answered by a crowd of 5,000+ packing out Rip Hewes Stadium for the home opener. By Dothan’s second home match, the crowd caught the eye of USL League Two Vice President Joel Nash, who made the trip to Dothan to see it for himself. The city finished with a flourish, with a reported crowd of over 7,000 for the final home match against Southern Soccer Academy, which ended in a thrilling halftime comeback for the Dragons, tying the match 3-3.
So how does a city, who hasn’t had a semi-professional sports team in over 100 years, who is situated in the Deep South and is not very familiar with the game of soccer, gain crowds big enough to get the attention of the League?
Easy, it’s because it’s fun.
The city of Dothan and the Wiregrass area has long yearned for something to get behind. It’s no secret that the South is obsessed with sports, with many of them forming harsh familial rifts over the choice of team to pull for. Whether it’s Alabama and Auburn or Troy and South Alabama, many arguments over family get togethers have been had over this. Dothan United provides a unique opportunity for fans to unite (full pun intended) over a shared cause. Many fans are already familiar with soccer due to the popularity of youth soccer organizations such as the Dothan Shockers, and for those that aren’t familiar with the game, Dothan United matches provide an easy, fun way to learn the sport.
When you walk up to Rip Hewes Stadium, you’re instantly greeted by a packed parking lot, with fans tailgating just off to the side of the stadium. Fans get to the stadium early to eat food, play games, blast music, and talk about how they expect today’s match to go. It doesn’t matter that the gates don’t open for another hour, or that it’s 96 degrees outside, fans are there to support the team who has begun to define their city. If you go inside the stadium, you will more than likely find Dothan United’s supporter’s group, the Circle City Inferno, setting up their banners and drum stands. While it’s still early, many fans are already trickling their way into the stadium, ready to see any glimpse of their team doing warmups on the field. By kickoff, the stadium, which only had one side open last year, is packed. Even with the lines to concessions wrapping around the corner of the field, you’re still hard-pressed to find a seat. In the South Endzone, you’re greeted by bounce houses for the children attending who could care less about the match. In a weird twist of fate, on the other corner of the South endzone, you’ll find the VIP area, where fans can watch the match at field level and get free food and drinks.
After an intro video ends with fire and smoke being shot into the air by pyrotechnic devices, the players take the field. Many opposing players are surprised by the environment they are walking into, but the Dragons are well aware of what awaits them. They are greeted by a flag of a dragon flying overhead, while the opposing players are greeted by a flag with two peanuts and a sarcastically written ‘Bless Your Heart’ on it. For the next 90+ minutes of regulation, the stadium is a symphony of yelling at officials and opposing players, beating drums, vuvuzelas, and wooden ratchets.
The environment at Dothan United matches are hard to beat. Many fans praise its welcoming environment, while others claim that the matches are some of the best experiences they’ve had in Dothan. While no one can point at a single thing for Dothan’s success, one thing is for certain; Dothan is a soccer city.
While the 2025 season approaches, the question begs to be asked: how do you improve upon that success? While many would simply be happy to rest on their laurels, the Dothan United front office has been steadily working hard to prepare for the upcoming season. Soon after last season ended, the team hosted a town hall to gain important feedback on what went wrong and what went right for the 2024 season. They then sought to implement the feedback they received. More matches, more matches on Saturdays, and more seating were all items that made their way into implementation, with Dothan announcing that they would be adding two additional home games to bring the total to ten, with one exhibition match as well. They also announced that they would be opening up the other side of the stadium as well as adding additional general admission and premium seating. These methods have already paid off, as reports of season ticket sales show that Dothan United have already sold a significant amount more tickets than they had last year. With the increase in sales and the rising popularity of Dothan United, it may not be too early to ask if they have a chance at selling out the 10,000 seat Rip Hewes Stadium. Needless to say, while some have been asking will Dothan be able to maintain what they had last year, I think the question should be “how high can Dothan climb?”
Photos provided by Craig Smith Photography and Jamie Wilkerson Photographics