Honor Thy History is a recurring series throughout the 2024 MLS regular season on OrlandoCitySC.com, highlighting some of the names and faces that have helped build Orlando City's history, from USL Pro to present day.
On the morning of June 11 last year, before the Orlando Pride hosted the Portland Thorns that night, Seb Hines worked on getting everything set before heading to the stadium. His team's tactics had been set through the week, his gear was packed. But there was one thing he still needed.
That night in 2023 marked almost seven years since Pulse nightclub, a safe and inclusive gay bar in SoDo, was rocked by a mass shooting that sent ripples throughout the Central Florida community. June 12, 2016, rocked the Orlando community to its core, but also, in the days following, it showed the resilience of the city to rally around the grief and heartache.
Six days later, on June 18, 2016, Orlando City SC hosted the San Jose Earthquakes in the first sporting event in the city following the tragedy.
It was a match remembered less for its final result and more for its importance to the community. A chance for first responders to be recognized, a chance for Orlando to come together in grief, celebration and remembrance of the 49 souls who lost their lives.
Each player for Orlando was given special rainbow sweatbands to wear throughout the match, a way for the Lions players to show their support for the LGBTQIA community. It was something that would play a much bigger role in that game for Seb Hines than he would have thought.
Walking out of the tunnel to The Beatles' song "All You Need Is Love" and looking around the stadium, with the crowd color-coded to look like a rainbow, proved an incredibly poignant moment for Hines.
"I remember it like it was yesterday"
Playing the match was a very unique experience for the starting centerback. The game was scoreless through the first half. Both teams had chances, but nothing had yet found the back of the net. As the second half kicked off, both teams only played for four minutes before the game came to a halt.
In the days leading up to the game, Orlando, San Jose, and MLS agreed to stop the game in the 49th minute for a moment of silence to remember the 49 lives lost less than a week prior. An announcement came over the PA system as the crowd of 37,194 stood up and held up the colors of the rainbow.
"It's something that I'll never experience again," Hines told OrlandoCitySC.com. "As an athlete, to have that mindset of you going to war and battle against an opponent, to then stop and to remember what it's for, remember the 49 people that lost their lives. And in that moment, that's all you're thinking about. And then the whistle goes, and then you're back to battle. People will say there's stoppages in games all the time, but there's never one where you reflect on an incident like that."
While it was an emotional moment for the City in that moment, it was Hines himself that helped bring the first moments of joy in that match in the 66th minute. Off a corner from former Lion Adrian Winter, the "Headmaster" as he came to be known, sent in a powerful header into the back of the net, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
As he began to celebrate with The Wall, he took off that rainbow armband and began to wave it around his head, honoring what that goal meant for the city itself.
"I wanted to make sure that the fans felt a part of that," Hines said. "It was an awful moment for the community to go through what they were going through, but it brought the community closer than it probably ever has been. I wanted to inspire people and, with the grace of the city that has to go through that suffering and make sure that they know we're all together and to show the togetherness of the community and celebrate together in that moment."
While the game ended in a 2-2 draw, its impact and importance were felt by all of the Lions players. For Hines, he wanted to make sure he kept something to remember the game, something he could have to reflect on such an impactful match.
"I thought, maybe, I could tell the story to my kids when they got older about the experience that we had playing in that game and what had happened, and I wanted something to take away from that, and something as small as a sweat band was, was enough for me. I never thought I'd have a reason to use it again."
Hines, in fact, did use it again. As one of the few players from that game to still be in Orlando, the now Orlando Pride head coach wore that historic armband on the pitch for his team's match against the Portland Thorns last year, tying that experience he had seven years prior to current day.
"Leading up to that game against Portland, I decided that I would wear it," Hines said, "In remembrance of the 49 people who had lost their lives back in 2016, I thought it would be a good moment for everyone to remember that, even for people who hadn't been in Orlando at the time, just to show that respect for them, I felt the need to wear the armband.
"It was a great honor to be able to have that moment. It's full circle from playing in the game, scoring in the game, and being able to celebrate in that way, but then also going out there and leading the Pride and showing that respect with the armband, just to be a part of it, was an incredible experience for myself."
Hines has now lived in The City Beautiful for almost a decade, having been in Orlando since the beginning of its MLS journey in 2015. He's grown his family here, cultivated a life with them and become ingrained in the city's community, both in and out of soccer. For him, wearing that armband again was the least he could do for the city that has given him so much.
"I've got so much love for Orlando," he said, "We made a big commitment leaving England to come here, and I've been welcomed with open arms. It is very much my home now. Being part of historic moments, has been, you know, amazing. From a a playing experience and now a coaching experience, it's also an opportunity for me to give back to the city and the community that has given so much to me."
"One thing that this city shows is its resilience, and its ability to come back stronger than ever. As a constant reminder, we've got 49 seats in the stadium with all the colors. It's important that we continue to respect the 49 people who lost their lives and we tell their stories to everyone. It should inspire everyone and help keep the city together.
"This week will always be remembered for what happened in 2016, and when we talk about Pride Month, it's always remembered for that moment, but it's also a moment we talk about the importance of everyone being themselves, not being afraid to be themselves even after what happened in that in that moment."
Now, as Hines and the Pride prepare to play this weekend and for the remainder of the season, the memory from eight years ago will remain strong in his heart as he takes to the sidelines.
