Football Partnerships

Football Partnerships podcast

Wolf Blizzard, guest host of Football Partnerships, introduces the 76er Mixer with Alex Kotler.

Listen here on Football Partnerships, or subscribe to the show via iTunes by searching the podcast directory for ‘Football Partnerships’. Please note that the recording is best heard via iTunes, as some browsers disrupt audio transmission.

 

 Episode 58 [28:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (127)

By ALEX KOTLER

It’s 6:24 am.

I’ve been working since 5:00 am.

A classical concert from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston is playing, audible just over the whirring fan by my footboard. My laptop is perched upon my thighs, resting upon a southwestern blanket that I picked up at a gas station on a weekend trip to New Mexico with my father in high school.

To my right lies a pile of bags and badges, boxes and bring-alongs, all for KICKOFF 2009: The Football Partnerships Launch Event. In cardboard tubes await coiled signage for hanging. In bags Who Are Ya Designs shirts, tags on, ready for giveaway and sale. In boxes custom badges for all who RSVP-ed. The guest list is now at 180 – 60 more than the venue permits.

And somewhere within that knee-high mountain lies the dreams of an entrepreneur.

Thursday is a big day for Football Partnerships.

—

It’s Monday.

Many people cringe at the start of a new work week.

Not me. At Football Partnerships, every day is Friday. And, every day is a work day.

There are no ‘off’ days.

—

It’s the necesary sacrifice to see out a vision. Its costs are innumerable: Monetary. Social. Temporal.

Fifteen to 20 hours per day. It’s exhausting, possible only by achieving a learning curve, improving efficiencies and keeping healthy.

It’s my story, but it’s no different from that of any other entrepreneur.

—

The Daily To-Dos for Football Partnerships

For the website:
Selection of five to ten current articles
Apply HTML code and upload to blog
Selection of images for (at least half of) articles
Process images and upload to server
Update new member directory profiles

For the newsletter:
Prepare for upcoming podcast interview
Update news content
Write Offsides article
Ready Announcements
Seek new job postings for Opportunities section
Attempt to be witty with the introduction

For the business:
Handle preparations for events
Return correspondence for consulting projects
Identify new opportunities
Refine partnership offerings
Seek new avenues for growth

For the LinkedIn group:
Screen and accept/decline new members
Moderate discussions

For the Facebook group:
Upload new media content
Monitor postings

(Please note: Lists have been halved for time’s sake.)

—

On the notion of time, saving it is essential. And, between time and money, I save the former far better. I do so by multi-tasking.

For example, I exercise, plan, and commute at once.

In about 15 minutes I will shower and shave. I’ll stuff a backpack and throw on my running gear. Out the door I’ll sprint from my apartment on the Upper East side to my office in the west 30s.

En route, I’ll mentally work out my day while I work out my muscles. Cutting through Central Park and out to the pathway along the West Side Highway, I’ll cover the four miles in about half an hour – give or take depending the weight of the pack and occasional stop at traffic lights.

The best part of that run happens when I pass a tourist or a stereotypical New Yorker who peers at me crossly, wearing shorts in mid-winter. It’s cold, so I barely sweat, and I clean off thoroughly once I arrive.

Yesterday I darted past a fellow in a hard hat and body suit working for the utility company. “My man,” he exclaimed, “I love it. I bet you never get sick.” “Never,” I returned with a smile.

I can’t.

Then I handle the day’s work for my employer, the NY Daily News: The one paying my bills, or most of them.

—

In five minutes I’ll make my bed and tidy the room. (Cleanliness rubbed off on me from mom.) On the way to the bathroom, I’ll pass three dormant bodies in the living room. Two are world-class athletes, and one a world-class consultant. My poor roommate – yes, the admission of a roommate is tough on the ego but New York is costly – has graciously allowed me to house Abbas Farid and John Farnworth (both football freestylers) and Dan Wood (a consultant for Streets United) on all available surfaces (couch, chair and floor, respectively). Their sleeping quarters are creeping into the kitchen.

Dan and John leave today for London, Dan for a meeting and John for a paid gig in the UK. Abbas will remain for KICKOFF 2009 and depart on Friday.

Not that the chaos ends when he leaves.

—

I take a sip of green tea from my favorite mug, the one featuring the logo of the New York Giants (American) football team. I bought it in Cooperstown, New York, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, on a camp trip when I was eight as a gift for my mom. There were no New York baseball team mugs, so I chose this one because it was ‘New York’ and mom drank coffee. She gave it back to me and told me that I should have it.

The tea has gone cold and I’m five minutes late.

—

It’s all a scramble.

The effort. The lifestyle. The payoff.

I have no idea whether it’s going to work out. I hope it does, though, because I love it.

This is 15 minutes of my day. It’s not unlike the 15 minutes had by other entrepreneurs.

It’s 7:40 am. Time to run.

By Alex Kotler

Coaches and vendors from around the world braved a sweeping Midwestern cold front to attend the 2009 NSCAA Convention this past week from January 14-18.

The event, held at the America’s Convention Center in St. Louis, Missouri, was a combination educational workshop and tradeshow catering to over 4,000 soccer coaches, predominantly from the United States and Canada. For four days, participants attended floor demonstrations and classroom lectures led by some of the world’s top clinicians.

People such as Jorge Barcellos, the Brazilian Women’s National Team Coach, Michael Forde, Chelsea FC’s Performance Director, and Steffi Jones, FIFA 2011 Women’s World Cup Organizing Committee President, left their mark on a city forgotten in football since the United States’ surprising upset over England in the 1950 World Cup. That ‘miraculous’ team included five Saint Louisians.

Topics ranging from the influence of technical work on tactical development to the integration of art, science and culture in football were explored through live clinics featuring young players, and presentations, aided by audio-visuals.

“It’s a fantastic experience,” said one coach. “Learning from the world’s elite is a privilege.” Another, citing the difficulty in following demonstrations via translator in real-time, sympathized saying, “It’s hard for the foreign instructors to get their points across. I understand Portuguese, and it was tough for [Barcellos] to tell the kids what he wanted. They weren’t doing it, and I could see that he was frustrated, and it wasn’t anybody’s fault – not his, the translator’s or the kids.” Still, responses were generally favorable.

Attendees were also invited to participate in soccer history by serving as the audience for the Major League Soccer SuperDraft and the WPS Draft, which were held on Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th, respectively. New club Seattle Sounders selected the Zaire-born, UK-raised Steve Zakuani as first pick and the Boston Breakers chose Amy Rodriguez from USC as theirs.

Prior to the draft, a spirited group of fans petitioned for a St. Louis-based MLS team, holding scarves high and chanting their requests in the direction of Don Garber. The Commissioner, neither placating nor acknowledging, steered clear of the issue – although there is no doubt that he heard. (St. Louis is one of the cities aspiring for a team by 2011.)

On the evening of the 15th the exhibition hall opened, and registrants flooded the floor for first glimpses and free booze. Budweiser, formerly an Anheuser-Busch brand but now part of the InBev portfolio, sponsored happy hour and attendees stumbling along from booth to booth talking to eager vendors and fellow coaches.

Whether for the beer or the soccer boots, the hall was its fullest opening night. Said one vendor from Calle, a street soccer brand, “I wish we’d anticipated how crowded it would be Thursday. People were buying shirts from us like hotcakes, and we couldn’t get them out of the boxes fast enough.”

Others flocked to the Fox Soccer Channel booth, situated within event-co-sponsor Kwik Goal’s area, where Max Bretos, Bobby McMahon, Christopher Sullivan and company broadcasted live.

For many, the NSCAA Convention was like a camp reunion. Jill Robbins, Executive Director of Soccer in the Streets, mentioned the strong bonds she’d forged with other convention-goers over the years. “There are people I only get to see once a year, and it’s here at the NSCAA.”

Not to mention the networking. First-time registered-company Football Partnerships hosted a mixer for its group members on Friday the 16th. Forty showed and enjoyed a football freestyle performance by champions Abbas Farid and John Farnworth before mingling amidst fellow professionals. John Barata, a member of Football Partnerships and co-owner of Soccer Interactive, praised the “excellent event at the NSCAA Convention.”

From adidas to youth soccer, the NSCAA Convention truly covered the football alphabet. And, for the first time in a long time it felt like, even for a moment, St. Louis had emerged from obscurity.

Based in Kansas City, Kansas, the NSCAA is the largest coaches’ organization in the United States. Since its founding in 1941, it has grown to include more than 26,000 members who coach both genders at all levels of the sport. In addition to a national rankings program for colleges and high schools, NSCAA offers an extensive recognition program that presents nearly 10,000 individual awards every year. It fulfills its mission of coaching education through a nationwide program of clinics and week-long courses, teaching more than 4,000 soccer coaches each year.

By Alex Kotler

On Friday, January 16, Football Partnerships hosted its first networking function at the 2009 NSCAA Convention. Forty current and prospective members from around the world turned out to mix and mingle for 45 minutes in a relaxed atmosphere.

Attendees were first treated to refreshments and a dazzling display of talent, as John Farnworth and Abbas Farid performed a seven-minute football freestyle duet. Alex Kotler, founder of Football Partnerships, then welcomed all guests before facilitating an interactive session for the remaining half hour.

Responses to the function were roundly positive, with some expressing regret at not having availability to attend KICKOFF 2009 on 29 January in New York. Football Partnerships is expecting close to 150 people for its second, and more formal, event.

For more information on KICKOFF 2009

Football Partnerships is currently on the road in St. Louis, Missouri. Look for updates over the next few days about the goings-on at the NSCAA Convention.