Helping Heartland Soccer Association Grow
I have been fortunate to work with Heartland Soccer since 2009. I have done everything from selling sponsorships, to creating a monthly newsletter, to managing their social media accounts.
Heartland Soccer Association is the largest youth soccer association in the country. But it hasn't always been that way. The organization has grown by approximately 750 teams in a decade. Over the past 8 years, I have watched and helped the league grow each and every year. Today, the non-profit organization represents more than 1,300 league teams and nearly 17,000 players. This is just league play; the association also holds some of the nation's largest youth tournaments... eight a year, in fact. When you add up league and tournament teams, Heartland represents more than 2,500 teams. Sorry for all the numbers, but it still amazes me. One of my favorite things about Heartland is that many of the players have grown up to be some of the best high school soccer players in the metro. Even further, quite a few have even gone on to play pro. Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic, Jon Kempin. Those three names will ring a bell with soccer fans. And they all played for a Heartland team. Besler, A FIFA World Cup player, started his soccer career with this non-profit organization. Now that’s pretty cool.
What also amazes me is that Heartland has only 10 employees. Which means everyone lends a hand. When I started at Heartland in 2009, I was a sales person. I found sponsors for tournaments and league play. I never considered myself a saleswoman, but I actually really enjoyed networking and meeting new clients. In 2010, I wanted to expand my role so I decided to create a monthly newsletter. Just for fun, I recently went back and looked at my first ever newsletter. It was pretty brutal. I had no clue what I was doing. None. I made the entire newsletter on a word document, if that tells you anything. But with a little trial and error, I have gotten this newsletter thing down and each month it is one of my favorite projects. Although I hung up my cleats from being a saleswoman, my role has grown tremendously with HSA. in 2013, I became the media relations manager and in November 2016, I was handed the task of being in charge of social media.
Heartland has always allowed me to try new things and open new doors, and I truly appreciate that. Thanks to my executive director and amazing coworkers, I have grown tremendously and have increased my skill set to become the business woman I am today. Not to mention, it has been great to support its continued growth!