Isles Meetup Groups 'Like A Family' for Faraway Fans

It's 91 degrees on a mid-October Saturday when Brandon Frey, Brian Dahl, Zachary Kasky, and Michelle DeRosa all come together to meet up on the beach boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.
Hammocks hang between the palm trees on the beach, but do little to offer shade, especially at high noon. It's certainly not jersey weather, but that doesn't faze the four Islanders fans. They've all driven between an hour-and-a-half and three hours to be on the beach for a fan video shoot; and that type of dedication isn't deterred by a little heat.

The four fans, featuring three members of the Isles Meetup's Orlando chapter and one from the South Florida crew, are doing Yes! Yes! Yes! and Let's Go Islanders! chants on the beach. Given all the music, souvenir shops and characters competing for attention on the Fort Lauderdale promenade, the fan shoot doesn't garner much attention to the public, but for one man, it may as well have been the Bat Signal. Outfitted in a blue Islanders shirt - a giveaway item from the 2020 playoff run - the independent Isles fan cheers for the camera, before carrying on with his beach day.
"When he came out of the water he was like, 'hey, I thought I was going crazy, I heard an Islanders chant,' so it's awesome," DeRosa said.
None of the four fans who signed up for the shoot know who he is, but that's the thing about Islanders fans in faraway places, they just seem to find each other.
That's at least been the experience of the Isles Meetup groups, whose chapters have started popping up all around the United States and even abroad. The groups have exploded since Mikey Ryan started Isles Meetup Charlotte back in the 2015-16 season, meeting up with five likeminded fans to watch Isles playoff games that spring. Fast forward to today and Isles Meetups have chapters from San Diego to the United Kingdom, hitting Utah, Chicago and many more along the way.

"I knew there were a lot of transplants around the country, all around the world," Ryan said. "Islanders fans are just super passionate and even though they move, they aren't willing to start rooting for another team, even if it's closer. Islanders fans are only diehards."
Florida is well represented, with chapters in South Florida, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville, and is only growing.
Take DeRosa, an Islanders Season Ticket Member since 1983, who moved from Long Island to Jupiter, FL in May. Moving meant having to give up her seats, but she was intent on finding ways to stay connected to the Islanders community and found the group on Facebook. She met up with members of the South Florida group a week later and has been a part of the group since.
"The South Florida group I've meet up with here, everyone is from Long Island," DeRosa said. "They all came down here and joined together. It's like a family. We talk to each other outside of the group too. It's not only Islanders related events we're with them for."
That type of community is one of the benefits that Ryan has seen with the meetup movement sweeping across the country.
"Having a central location where everyone can go, talk about Long Island, talk about the team they rooted for when they were younger is just a nice way to make friends in a new city," Ryan said. "You might be in your 20s or 30s. It's not so easy to make friends, so going to a meetup is a good way to find likeminded people."

In Frey's case, it's about meeting people with similar interests, and also about bringing new fans into the fold.
Frey has Long Island roots but has lived in Florida for most of his life. He's been an Islanders fan since attending a game at Nassau Coliseum around 12 or 13 years ago and even with the team struggling at the time, there was something about it that grabbed him.
"I was never really into hockey, but the Coliseum atmosphere it was electric, and it just hit me," he said. "Now I've never missed a game."
Orlando isn't exactly Hockeytown, despite the ECHL's Orlando Solar Bears having one of the memorable hockey monikers and being two hours away from Tampa Bay, but the Isles Meetup chapter draws between 30-40 fans, depending on the game. And while Frey has ties to Long Island, he's spread his Islanders fandom to friends in Orlando. His two friends - Dahl and Kasky - are fans because of him and big enough fans to drive three hours to come to a game in Sunrise.
"It's just the attitude and camaraderie to just cheer on the Islanders," he said. "Since Barry Trotz got here, it's gotten everybody who maybe was afraid to be an Islanders fan, because they weren't that great, to be loud and proud and show off their Islanders gear. I go to Universal Studios all the time and I'll see people wearing Islanders hats, shirts or jerseys."
That's a welcome sight for Frey, who is currently living in Lightning territory, and for all the Isles Meetup chapter members, who have been in fine form to start the season.
The Carolina (Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem) and Florida chapters came out in big numbers for the Islanders first two games of the season. The Raleigh tailgate attracted over 230 fans, while there were plenty of blue and orange jerseys at FLA Live Arena on Saturday. For a lot of fans, it's been their first live Islanders game in nearly two years, and just like the group on the beach, they're excited to come together and cheer on the team and maybe connect with some other Islanders fans along the way.