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When David and Wendy Dworkin purchased the then-Rochester Rhinos in 2015, the team had only just won its first United Soccer League title. But going into 2016, the Dworkins had roughly 45 days to organize the team’s players and legal licensing before the season, which placed them on the “back foot.”

Following the 2017 season, the Rhinos organization went on hiatus, despite being consistent USL playoff contenders. The Dworkins wanted to bring the franchise back, but with an entirely new identity.

“We went on a hiatus with a clear desire, understanding and commitment to come back,” David said. “We were coming back either way. We’re just coming back different.”

The Dworkin’s are now the co-owners of a minor league soccer club, Rochester New York FC. The franchise formerly known as the Rhinos is one of US soccer’s most storied organizations, highlighted by being the only non-MLS team to win the U.S. Open Cup. RNY FC, which features a new logo and a new identity, is highlighted by the club’s co-ownership with current Leicester City and former English national team striker Jamie Vardy.

The Dworkins first met at Syracuse Hillel, as David and Wendy were representatives for their respective fraternity and sorority. The two graduated from The College of Arts and Sciences in 1991 and eventually got married. Later, they became business partners, leading them to spark one of upstate New York’s most prominent relaunches of a sports franchise.

The relaunch of the club is built around its new slogan “Believe Impossible,” which exemplifies the franchise starting fresh after its brief hiatus. The club was set to relocate if the Dworkins hadn’t purchased the Rhinos in 2016, which is why they emphasize that slogan, which they said represents RNY FC’s values, and their own, regarding second chances and perseverance.

“We’re just starting fresh with a new perspective, a new name and new players. For us it is ‘Believe Impossible,’” David said. “We know we can do it, and you put all these pieces together and you’ve got a pretty dynamic structure in place.”

For Wendy, that value holds true at a personal level. Her ownership stake in RNY FC gives her a chance at pursuing her family’s legacy of sports ownership in Rochester.

Wendy’s family was one of the original owners of the Rochester Royals — a mid-20th century Rochester-based NBA team. The team, of which the Dworkins are co-owners, has since relocated three times and is currently in Sacramento as the Kings. Wendy is a lifelong Rochester resident, while David has grown into the culture, but to David, the idea of the Rhinos relocating didn’t sit right with him.

“The Sacramento Kings (are) obviously a transplant from Rochester,” David said. “How many teams could you allow to relocate elsewhere? I think any time you establish roots in a community, that becomes a part of you.”

On June 15, 2021, the Rhinos organization announced they were going to make their return to play after a nearly four-year hiatus. The announcement came with the news that Vardy was joining the organization as a co-owner. Less than three months later, the club announced an entire rebrand, including a new name and logo. David said he believed that Vardy’s addition to the ownership changed the entire dynamic of RNY FC’s relaunch.

“They want to be just as successful as I do, and we’re all on that same page in making sure that we push forward and make it as successful as possible.” Vardy said.

On the ownership side, Vardy offers a player’s perspective on soccer that the Dworkins can’t relate to. Despite being a full-time English Premier League player, Vardy has still made time for RNY FC-related meetings, including sitting in on prospective head coach interviews.

But when it comes to RNY FC’s overall brand, the Dworkins said they agree that Vardy is the epitome of the franchise’s “Believe Impossible” slogan. At 16, Vardy was cut from his youth academy team and became a carbon fiber technician. At 20, he joined Stocksbridge Park Steels FC, a semi-pro team while still working as a technician. At 23, he finally signed his first professional contract that allowed him to make a three-year jump to Leicester City.

“Jamie’s comeback of being the underdog absolutely has a parallel to Rochester, a city that had a few large companies that a lot of the community depended on,” Wendy said. “Now the community’s kind of reinvented itself and come back.”

RNY FC’s new logo features a gray waterfall, which depicts Rochester’s High Falls, which are located in the center of the city and is where a lot of the city’s early industrial development took place.

One of the main decisions Wendy and David had to make was whether to transfer the light green color from the original Rhinos logo into that of RNY FC. Many supporters advocated to keep the green, and the Dworkin’s knew they had to after a tweet arose which argued that the Rhinos will always be green. The two acknowledged this and noted that despite the absence of the raging charging Rhino, this tradition behind the Rochester Rhinos is not extinct.

Building belief beyond our walls.#RNYFC #BelieveImpossible pic.twitter.com/Nc1jIsmvYY

— Rochester New York FC (@rnyfcofficial) September 18, 2021

“Every successful football team’s always got a successful fan base as well,” Vardy said. “If you’re a football club and you’ve got one city behind you, people start understanding and realizing what you wanted to achieve. It’s about giving people a second chance in every aspect, not just on the field with the players, but behind the scenes as well.”

Much of that community outreach, which Vardy will play a key role in, is centered around Rochester’s youth. In 2016, Vardy launched the V9 Academy in England, to give overlooked, non-league players — as Vardy once was — a chance to be scouted by professional clubs. He said he wants to implement the same academy in the U.S.

The Dworkins said they believe Rochester is the right place for the V9 Academy. Unlike larger metro areas around the country, many professional scouts do not prioritize their search for talent in upstate New York. Through the V9 Academy in Rochester, players from all around the country would have the chance to spend a few weeks in Rochester, where they can be directly scouted by coaches from around the world.

“One of our goals with Jamie involved and the V9 is to give youth that maybe haven’t had the opportunity to get eyes on them,” Wendy said. “Getting some of those youth involved that may be very talented, but not part of organized soccer.”

Maya Goosmann | Digital Design Director

RNY FC’s inaugural season will also feature a docuseries called “Rhino Reboot,” bringing all aspects of the team’s relaunch to life in real-time. The club partnered with TV production company, Love Productions, whose staff had experience producing Netflix’s “Last Chance U.” The Dworkin’s see a lot of the “Last Chance U” theme within the organization due to its history and prior success, but the two have started over on a clean slate knowing that the team’s success is going to take time to replicate.

“I want to get that (U.S.) Open Cup again,” Vardy said. “I’m not in it for the short term, I’m in it for the long-term, and if it takes 10,15, 20 years, then so be it.”

The Dworkins have collectively lived in upstate New York for a majority of their lives, and they’ve seen many of the region’s teams either relocate or shut down completely such as the Rochester Rattlers, the Royals and the Western New York Flash. Just being able to prosper upstate New York’s sports culture is a large victory for them, along with the community they’ve grown to love, they said.

“In Rochester, we’ve lost a lot of franchises,” David said. “There’s a number of teams that have left, professionally, and we’re just happy to bring ours back.”

Published on November 11, 2021 at 12:19 am

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu