Soccer culture is unique from other sports fandoms for several reasons. Between the organized supporter groups, and the coordinated singing throughout the match, a special atmosphere is created. A tifo is another contributor to soccer’s unique fandom. For those unfamiliar, tifos are the large visual displays that are usually painted onto tarp/sheets and hung pre-match over the wild supporters' sections. Tifos are fan-created and generally reserved for meaningful matches.
Recently, I was fortunate enough to play a (very) minor role in the creation of the tifo unveiled during the last Louisville City match. It is not a process I have taken part in before nor thought much about previously. Mellwood Arts Center was gracious enough to allow the Coopers to use some of their space over the course of a few weekends (these are not one-day endeavors). There is a lot of hard work put into the creation of the tifos from the design creation, sewing of the sheets, drawing, and painting. Can't forget to shout out Sherwin Williams for the paint!
I assisted with the drawing of the initial design on the sheets. Specifically, the text on the lower left as seen below. A grid system is used to help ensure everything is to scale and where it belongs.
To everyone involved in creating the most recent tifo, or any in the past, thank you for your time and effort. It’s the passion of supporters like you and the willingness to commit your time to these projects that help to make soccer and the surrounding community so special and enjoyable!
Here are some behind-the-scenes pictures I snapped along with a few taken by John Harper and EM Dash. Hope you enjoy them!
