Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Road Map

Every journey starts with a single step...and requires many more along the way. We have put together a road map of more than 75 small and large milestones on the way through the first season of the new professional women's soccer league in 2009.

We've already hit several major milestones - assembled the ownership group, been accepted as a charter member of the new League, agreed to lease terms with Toyota Park, agreed to a major partnership with the Illinois Women's Soccer League and confirmed my role in the organization for the next several years.

The next major steps to be finalized over the next couple months start with finalizing our vision, mission and value statements and include hiring a general manager, hiring a head coach, securing our first couple players, organizing a role for the public in the process to name the team, assembling an advisory board with representation from various stakeholders and establishing partnerships with the Chicago Fire, FC Indiana and other key soccer community leaders...and that's just a portion of the road map for the next couple months.

There is certainly plenty of work to do and i look forward to following our road map. The joy is in the journey.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Many Thanks

i am fortunate to have many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving:

The New Team - Having the opportunity to organize the new women's pro soccer team in Chicago is truly an honor.

The Community - An excited base of fans and soccer leaders ready to support the new team is making this fun.

Owners - In Chicago, we have a great group of investors who are committed for all the right reasons.

Future co-workers
- There are some very talented, hard working people with good character who are believers in this and plan on joining our efforts when we staff up next year. Some i have worked with in the past, some i have not. All will be committed and passionate.

Experience - A wealth of knowledge and wonderful memories from more than 20 years in professional soccer help me every day.

Tonya Antonucci - The League Commissioner is bright, dedicated and wise. Her leadership and the new business model ensure the League's success.
Other franchise owners - Our business partners throughout the League are engaged, experienced and committed.

Toyota Park - We will be playing in the best venue in the new women's pro soccer league. It is intimate, it can be intimidating to opponents and it has nice creature comforts for our fans.

Chicago Fire - A great team that has been supportive of our efforts all along. My successor at the Fire, John Guppy, and the team's new owner and our landlord Andell Holdings have been very helpful as we build up our organization.

Village of Bridgeview - Mayor Steve Landek, the trustees and staff have welcomed us and made it possible for the team to exist.
Illinois Women's Soccer League - Flo Dyson's leadership has provided us with a true partner in the soccer community and a large base of support.

FC Indiana - Their ownership brought this opportunity to me in the first place and provided the resources to make sure that Chicago wouldn't be left out this time.

My family and friends - Their support since i left the Fire has been unwavering and kept me going.

This is certainly just a part of what i have to be thankful for. i am grateful for your support. i hope you take the opportunity today to thank everyone in your life that is important to you and i wish you a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving.

First...

There will be plenty of firsts in the next couple years as we lead up to the launch of Chicago's first professional women's soccer team and this is our first blog post!

Much of the action over the next six months will be behind the scenes and not readily apparent to the public. i'm hoping that these blogs will provide some transparency into the organization, insight into the team and a forum to gain reaction, ideas and suggestions from the public.

Last week was important for both the team and League. Chicago Professional Women's Soccer, LLC held its first shareholders meeting at its first office on Tuesday. The office is literally a single office within fellow shareholder Jack Cummins' suite of law offices at 415 N. LaSalle Drive Suite 600 in the River North area of Chicago. We will likely keep that as our interim office until we begin staffing up next spring.

The first CPWS shareholders meeting was very good. It was the first opportunity for several of the shareholders to meet each other and it gave me an opportunity to update them on recent activities including my first address at the Illinois Women's Soccer League Annual General Meeting and our first meeting with Indiana Youth Soccer Executive Director Don Rawson.

Topics of discussion at the shareholders meeting included our Vision, Mission and Value Statements; Roadmap/Timeline; Efforts to bring in additional shareholders; Corporate structure and corporate manager selection; Budgets; Affiliations with the Chicago Fire, IWSL, FC Indiana and others; Personnel hiring: President/CEO, General Manager, staff, coach and players; Sponsorship, marketing and ticket sales and creation of an advisory board.
i will try to address several of those topics in future blogs.

i was also in Washington, DC with fellow shareholders Gary Weaver and Jack Cummins last Wednesday through Friday for League meetings. There is a lot to be done and i am glad we have the extra year to do it. i am serving on four League committees including chair of the marketing committee, so Chicago will have a strong role in the creation of the League's foundation.

The next couple years will include plenty of firsts that we hope will culminate with the League's first championship in Chicago in 2009.

Thank you in advance for your support and i invite you to share your comments, questions and thoughts below.