Soccer entrepreneur aims to build off successful debut season

Marcus Walfridson wasn't feeling well on June 3. 

It was the night of Sarasota Paradise's first home game, and Walfridson, the team's owner, was stuck in the press box at Sarasota High School’s Charlie Cleland Stadium. Walfridson and the Paradise, a "pre-professional" soccer team competing in the United Soccer League's League 2, came to Sarasota to build something special in the community, Walfridson says. He saw a city desperate for a soccer team to call its own, for athletes that kids can emulate when playing in their backyards. At the team's initial announcement party in November at the Sarasota Art Museum, Walfridson said he wanted the team to unite the city in pride; on the team's website, a banner reading "It's time for Sarasota" ripples across the home screen.