BY: ANNA AUDLER, GLASGOW ‘19 PROGRAM PARTICIPANT & PRODUCT AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGER AT P&P IMPORTS LLC
One of my fondest childhood memories includes waking up early on a Saturday morning to get ready for softball tournaments, tennis matches, volleyball games, or any other sport I managed to convince my parents to register me for. I was always that child that would rather be out on the field playing with a ball instead of staying inside and watching cartoons like any other child my age at the time. Back then I knew I wanted to work in the sports industry, but if you ask my 10-year-old self, she would expect me to be a professional athlete by now.
Looking back, I know I would never have had any of my memories playing sports as a child if it were not for the adults that helped organize the different leagues that I would play in. As a child, you don’t notice all the hard work that goes into scheduling your tournament, ordering your jerseys, or coordinating the fundraisers to help pay for your registration fees; all you can think about is going outside and playing the sport you love while hanging out with your friends.
When I made the decision to pursue a career in sports, I knew that a portion of what I wanted to do was to provide those same opportunities I was given when I was younger to others. During my job search after my graduation from UCLA in 2017, I discovered Super Soccer Stars and knew immediately that this would be a perfect opportunity for me. Super Soccer Stars is a soccer development program that focuses on the development of soccer skills in children between the ages of 12 months-12 years old across the nation. Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world and just the thought of providing opportunities for kids to learn the sport excited me.
During my first few months at Super Soccer Stars, I was able to oversee Customer Service for our programs in Los Angeles and Orange County while also assisting the San Diego and San Francisco Customer Service teams. Being in that Customer Service role allowed me to see the other side of running a program and work directly with the parents that signed up their child for these programs and hearing the stories behind why they want to sign up their 2-year-old in soccer development classes. Eventually, I was able to earn a promotion to Regional Program Coordinator where I was able to oversee all programs in the Greater Los Angeles area and Orange County. Now, I was the person that decided when the development classes would take place based on need, how many classes based on demand, liaise with our current business partners to decide on where the classes would take place based on availability, and a bunch of other business-related projects that I didn’t even know existed in the world of youth sports to help generate revenue and provide opportunities for kids to learn soccer. Who knew that going to meetings with city officials or school directors/teachers and applying for permits would be essential to youth soccer, but it is and being exposed to those experiences helped me learn the business side of sports.
The more my responsibilities increased, the more I was able to look back and have a greater appreciation for those programs I played in as a child and the more appreciation for the work I was doing. Going to the events I would help organize (some events I got to help out with included some for LA Galaxy) or even some of the classes I helped put on the schedule and seeing a smile on a child’s face while they kicked around a soccer ball justified my reason for working in this industry. I also realized that working for Super Soccer Stars provided opportunities that I would not have received working in the Big Four (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL) and provided greater flexibility to explore other skillsets, like customer service and business operations, compared to working in one specific department.
As I look back on my experience with Super Soccer Stars and my experience with the Living Sport program, I now have a greater appreciation for job experiences that the Big Four does not offer, and understand that it is completely okay to not have experience in professional sports and still be able to have a sports job.
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Super Soccer Stars offers fun and educational soccer classes, birthday parties, after school programs, and camps to children in New York, Boston, Florida, Chicago, DC, Philadelphia, Texas, San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles/Orange County and has plenty of job opportunities available. Their new online model and preventative COVID-19 measures for in-person classes have allowed them to remain in operation during this pandemic. For job opportunities, please visit apply.workable.com/super-soccer-stars/ for further information.