FC Tampa Bay's Hometown Hero

ST. PETERSBURG – Although professional soccer only returned to the Tampa Bay area a year ago, when FC Tampa Bay began playing at Steinbrenner Field, the sport has always been immensely popular in this region.

From the original Rowdies of the 1980s to local club the Clearwater Chargers, whose teams have won over 50 state championships and one national title, the original futbol has always had a toehold in the hearts and minds of Tampa Bay residents.

But like every lower-level pro sport, soccer still needs a face, that player who can draw attention to the game with his style of play, personality and ability to connect with fans, both casual and hardcore.

Meet Chad Burt.

The 23-year-old midfielder for FC Tampa Bay has one foot planted firmly in the St. Petersburg area. The has kicked around a soccer ball at the age of three. Now Burt plays soccer for a living but he has never forgotten his roots.

“It’s great to be playing in my hometown,” Burt said after practice last week at Al Lang Field. ”I’m very big in the community of soccer here…so it’s nice to be able to have this team here and play in the community I love and grew up in.”

Burt was born in St. Pete in March 1988 and graduated from Northeast High School. His father, Hans, a former soccer star at Ohio State, started the successful Strictly Soccer Futbol Club when Chad was about three years old, and he’s been an active participant in the club, and sport, ever since.

“In the local soccer community, everyone knows me because everyone knows my dad,” he says. “My parents always let me choose what sport I wanted to play, but I never wanted anything but a soccer ball.”

“Growing up, it was just soccer all the time. It’s in my blood. That’s all that ever mattered to me.”

Indeed his current coach, Ricky Hill, admits Burt, who recently broke two bones in his foot and missed the last 13 games, is the type of player you have to kick off the pitch at the end of practice.

"He's fantastic to coach. He's one of those young people who's like a sponge, he wants to absorb as much as he can," Hill says. "He's a student of the game, someone who loves to learn and is always working to get better."

"He's one of those players that you have to sometimes take ownership of...so he doesn't do too much."

After attending the University of Tampa in 2005 and playing one season for the Spartans, Burt got an offer to play for the Colorado Rapids Under-23 team, where he spent one season before moving to Atlanta to play for the Silverbacks U23 club in 2008.

Following a two-year stint with the Milwaukee Wave of the MISL, Burt signed a contract with FC Tampa Bay in March 2010; other than trips to Japan to stay competitive in the offseason, he has been with the club, and in his hometown, ever since.

Despite travelling to all parts of the globe, the “laid-back” Burt says he enjoys his time away from home, if only for a few months or years at a clip.

“I love to travel,” he confesses. “Eventually I want to go overseas and play professionally over there.”

After his playing days are over, Chad envisions entering the coaching profession, but admits his father would love for him to take over the family business.

“My dad’s always talked about me taking over…but he knows it’s not realistic. He sees me as more of a pro coach. But he knows I’ll always be there to help.”

For now Burt is content with basking in the glow of being a young, personable, professional athlete playing in his own backyard.

He lives with fellow FC Tampa Bay heartthrob, Mozzi Gyorio, in Tampa, and enjoys spending his free time relaxing with friends and family, dining at places like Bella Brava and Café Vienna, and cooking German cuisine.

“Mozzi does the dishes, I cook the food,’” he offers about their bachelor life.

But no matter what his future holds and no matter where his career takes him, Burt believes he will stay rooted in the St. Petersburg soccer scene.

“I’ve lived all over the place, but this is my home,” he says. “This is where I want to live when I’m older, and have kids who will grow up playing soccer here in St. Pete.”