Designing a Championship: Rhys Searles & Hickory FC
By: Chris Goldby ∣ Hickory Algorithm
Your Hickory FC are the 2025 NPSL National Champions.
How wild is that?
In a town already proud of the Hickory Crawdads, LR Lacrosse, and Hickory High Football, we’re now watching a soccer team rise to national prominence. And the most exciting part? We’re living right in the middle of it, while it’s happening.
Just like the Hickory Algorithm, Hickory as a city is evolving. It’s growing into something special. And when it comes to sports, no matter where you’re from Pittsburgh, California, Florida, or born and raised in Catawba County, we rally behind our teams. That’s part of the City of Hickory’s Algorithm.
Meet Rhys Searles of Searles Creative
I met Rhys Searles in 2024 when I was looking for someone to design a website. We grabbed coffee downtown and instantly connected. Rhys didn’t just build good websites, he had an eye for big picture design. Fast forward to 2025, and we reconnected when I invited him to take the Graphic Design seat in our Hickory Algorithm Members Only group.
That’s right around the time when Hickory FC really started making noise and Rhys was right in the middle of it.
Each week at our Tuesday morning breakfast meetings at the Hickory Arcade Café, Rhys would update us on the graphics he was creating for Hickory FC. Win or lose, he was behind the scenes building designs that shaped the public image of a rising team. But this wasn’t just a client gig for him—this was his passion.
This was his #fortheloveofthegame.
A Local Designer with a National Reach
As Hickory FC kept setting attendance records and moving up the national ranks, Rhys was working overtime to design their visuals. Season ticket holder. Creative partner. Local fan. He did it all.
But it’s not just Hickory FC.
Rhys also runs Searles Creative, a growing design agency, while juggling life as a father of four, including a newborn. Yet through all the chaos, he continues to deliver high-level creative that feels like it belongs on a national stage.
This Week on the Hickory Algorithm Podcast
I invited Rhys onto the show to talk about the role of design in shaping brand identity. Why a logo is only the beginning, and how great design goes far beyond what people see. It’s about how they feel when they see it.
We recorded the episode just one day before Hickory FC won it all. The timing couldn’t have been better.
So this week, we celebrate two things:
A national championship.
The people behind the scenes who help shape the story.
👨🎨 Link to Searles Creative: Website to Searles Creative
🏆 Congratulations to Hickory FC – 2025 National Champions!
#fortheloveofthegame
Events:
📆 August 8th - MURDER! and food…
More information to the Facebook Event (HERE)
At 7:00 PM, the mystery unfolds in a two-hour immersive show full of twists, clues, and unexpected revelations. Will you crack the case—or become part of it?
Tickets: $85 per person
📆 August 14th
More information to the Facebook Event (HERE)
𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝘽𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙤 𝘽𝙖𝙨𝙝 in Downtown Hickory on the CommScope Stage on Union Square!
Bring your friends, wear your flip-flops, and let’s bingo to the beat on 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟰, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟲 𝘁𝗼 𝟴 𝗽𝗺 for a night of classic beach music and BINGO fun!
Cost is $5.00 a card and four games will be called. There will be first, second and third prizes.
📆 August 16th
More information to the Facebook Event (HERE)
Join us in downtown Conover on Saturday, August 16th, from 10 AM – 2 PM for a day of amazing deals, unique finds, and small-town charm!
📆 September 27th - :::YELLING:::
ADVANCE TICKETS!!!!!111
🛸 The Hickory Algorithm 🛸
At Hickory Algorithm, marketing isn’t just noise—it’s about a game plan. Executing that game plan across multiple platform with organic ever green content.
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Want to know how it all works?
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Things I use:
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