Breeana Cassidy, NJ Youth Soccer
Starting this fall, New Jersey Youth Soccer introduced its pilot Student Mentorship Program. The program has achieved great success over the past eight months, and students have expressed that they are gaining insightful knowledge on where they ultimately want to start their career in sports.
NJ Youth Soccer is now looking to accept college students into its Fall 2024-Spring 2025 Student Mentorship Program! Keep reading if you are interested in taking part.
The current students in the NJYS Student Mentorship Program have come from prestigious colleges such as Caldwell University, Immaculata University, Montclair State University, Ocean County College, Rider University and Tufts University. This new program initiative by NJ Youth Soccer is dedicated to using youth soccer as a vehicle for professional development and career opportunities. Further, this developing program is focused on educating college students on additional leadership and growth opportunities, on and off the field during webinars and in-person events.
The program featured speakers throughout the course of the year that included:
- Jen Maurillo, Chiefs Events Officer for Major League Soccer
- Shaun Oliver, Vice President of Operations for the New York Red Bulls
- John Terry Senior, Director of Events at U.S Soccer
- Donna Riollano, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at Major League Soccer
- John Archibald, CEO of Resolutions Promotions
- Ellie Carlson, Marketing Coordinator at Gotham FC
- Rick Meana, Director of Coaching at New Jersey Youth Soccer
The core of the Student Mentorship Program is an umbrella of three NJYS Services:
The NJYS Student Mentorship Program provided participants with an opportunity to establish career-themed experience in NJ Youth Soccer events, such as NJYS State Cups (Fall and Spring), NJYS Awards Dinner Presented by RWJBarnabas Health and the NJYS Annual General Meeting. The program also focused on professional training and networking within key webinars, along with one-on-one mentoring throughout the duration of the program.
This year’s pilot program featured key monthly webinars with meaningful speakers in different topic areas. The webinars focused on providing students with insightful information regarding specific areas in different organizations across all levels.
Webinars included guest speakers such as Shaun Oliver, who is the Vice President of Operations for the New York Red Bulls. He spoke about the operations side of professional sports, giving students knowledge about the ins and outs of the operations within the Red Bulls organization. He also helped students grasp the realms of the day-to-day environment.
The next speaker was Rick Meana, who is the Director of Coaching at NJ Youth Soccer. He led the students through his coaching career path and let participants know what to expect from some of the coaching education courses offered by NJ Youth Soccer.
Current students in the program showed a strong interest in sports marketing, so John Archibald and Ellie Carlson were invited to weigh in on some of the marketing aspects and questions they had. John Archibald is the CEO of Resolutions Promotions, and Ellie Carlson is the Marketing Coordinator for Gotham FC. Both speakers alluded to very similar yet very different career paths that helped students learn the many sides of sports marketing. Students learned more about both the professional sports side of marketing as well as smaller organization sports marketing.
The students in the program are looking to step into their professional careers after completion of college, so Donna Riollano was invited to speak about recruiting on a webianr. Riollano is the Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at Major League Soccer. Within this webinar, the students focused their efforts on asking questions and seeking advice on how to land a position within the sports industry, along with what talent acquisition looks for in candidates.
The webinar series also spotlighted John Terry, Senior Director of Events from U.S Soccer, and Jen Maurillo, Chiefs Events Officer at Major League Soccer. The two executives spoke about the topic area of major sporting events. Both speakers weighed in on what it is like to put on a major event and what goes into the preparation for these events. They also referenced their notable careers and what they have experienced along the way.
In addition to these mentoring services, the NJYS Student Mentorship Program also provided scholarship opportunities and stipend travel to NJ Youth Soccer events for the student members in the program. This initiative also provides the opportunity of receiving free training for the students within the program (e.g. coaching education).
“I am very appreciative of the opportunity the Student Mentorship Program has given me to participate in and understand the amount of work that goes into various events hosted by NJYS, as well as connect with like-minded peers,” said Melanie Lockwood, a student who took part in the program.
NJ Youth Soccer is now looking to accept participants into its Student Mentorship Program for the upcoming fall! Students who are interested are encouraged to submit a Student Mentorship Application (please include a resume) or reach out with interest to breeana@njyouthsoccer.com.
About U.S. Soccer’s Innovate to Grow Fund
Recognizing the vital role that its member organizations play in the growth of soccer in the U.S., U.S. Soccer established the Innovate to Grow (ITG) Fund in 2017 to help U.S. Soccer member organizations launch new and innovative programs designed to grow participation in their markets, providing up to $3 million of funding total per year. Since its inception, ITG has granted over $9.8 million in funding through 145 awards to U.S. Soccer members across the country, as well as provide COVID-19 relief and recovery funds during 2020 and 2021. Learn more about U.S. Soccer’s members at https://www.ussoccer.com/organization-members.