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His heft and legacy led to the nickname hell almost perfect.
Miles Elginer said he was called a German tank as a goalkeeper.
It was on the football field. After that, the big Hans Rode took on a much heavier role.
He was the father of many people, Dave Rhodes said.
Circus performer Hans Rode founded with his wife Rosie in the 1960s when he had moved from Düsseldorf, Germany, and his wife Rosie formed a palace known for its dangerous air development activities. A trapeze pair would make 80 feet in the air, without a net.
Hans and Rosie worked for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus before Hans retired in 1972 and opened Old Heidelberg Castle, a restaurant located on the corner of Northern Washington Boulevard and Fruitville Road in Sarasota before closing in 1995.
German footballer Hans brought his love of sports to Sarasota. He started by organizing matches among residents and other circus performers.
That’s how it started, son Mike Rode said. There were enough internationals (visitors) who wanted to play football, so I think it increased somewhat from there.
In 1971, Hans gave the Sarasota Football Club its name to football lovers from all ethnic groups. For the first ten years, the club had a name, but not a central gathering place. We played games, said Elginer, 73, a footballer in his native Turkey, and then we went to someone’s house to celebrate after the game.
It changed in 1981 when Sarasota County donated a landfill to the club on Richardson Road. With donations, no one had the money, Rhodessaid labor and materials, to build the building.
The Sarasota Football Club formed two teams, Lowenbrau and Miller High Life, both of which began playing in the Florida Suncoast Soccer League (FSSL), the largest amateur league in the Florida State Football Association.
Rode, who died in 2018 at the age of 81, was there from the beginning. Several years later, Elginer and 67-year-old Rhodes got on board and never left. Fifty years is a long time to be a member of anything, and in November club members will be celebrated to celebrate half a century of football and unwavering camaraderie.
A lot of people play football in college, then they quit, Rhodes said. We didn’t want to stop.
From the early days of the club, membership grew to where it now has nearly 300. But many are members only in name and have not participated in the club’s activities for years. The facility itself, with showers, dressing room, bar and small kitchen, is a testament to the success of club teams for over 50 years.
On the other side is an impressive collection of trophies with little space between them. No more second place prizes, Elginer said. We have no space. First place prizes only.
There are team photos on the other wall, and the SFC has several competing in the FSSL, from the main club to 60 players and older.
We were one of the best teams in the state, Rhodes said. We still are.
The club’s main team won the league title last year. The FSSL Regular Series begins in September and ends in May, followed by the state cup. SFC plays teams in the Tampa / St. Petersburg area, and when these teams travel to Sarasota to play, their players are in no hurry to leave.
They love this place, Rhodes said.
That since no FSSL team even has a chance, much less one to compete with the SFC.
Teams come down and stay for 3-4 hours, member Worth David said. Buy a lot of beer and leave a lot of money in the tip jar. They don’t have to get in their car after the game and drive away. They can even get a shower if they want. These guys have a different chamber here that they can’t get to all the other clubs.
Bonds formed after the matches will be transferred back to the field. Mike Rode, who played football at Sarasota High School before winning the Division II national title as a midfielder on the 1994 University of Tampa team, believes this has contributed to the success of the SFC teams.
When you have a place like this where you can spend time later, you have a deeper bond with your teammates, 48-year-old Rode said. Because your brothers are now. And you fight for each other (on the field), where if you just go to the field, play and then continue your own ways, you don’t have that connection. You don’t care as much. There is pride in the family atmosphere.
But some things have changed. Years ago, the SFC satellite dish collected football matches that were not available on online TV, guaranteeing fans of the big participants from teams from Poland, France, England and elsewhere. Rhodes said many people stay home to watch it.
Maybe the 50th birthday party in November will get them back. The Sarasota Football Club has been the gold standard for Florida amateur football for half a century.
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