ISSUE 020: From rental cars to selling soccer 🚗 ➡️ ⚽️

IN THIS ISSUE

• 👋 Introduction: A small ask 🙏

• 👨‍🎓 Soccer Thought Leader: From rental cars to selling soccer

• 👥 Pathway Mentorship: 1-on-1 mentorship opportunity

• ⚽️ Soccer Jobs: New + interesting jobs

• ⭐️ Featured Job: Graphic Designer at Name & Number

• 🫵 Do This Now: Must-follow accounts to track USL

INTRODUCTION

Hello, Pathwayers! 👋

John Bello here, taking over writing duties from Nolan for this week’s issue.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the Pathway Survey in last week's newsletter. This information allows us to better serve you in creating different resources to help you break into or build your career working in the soccer industry.

For us, it’s so important to know who you are and where you are in life as we target our outreach for featured interviews, develop content for “Do This Now,” and make iterations on the newsletter as we continue to grow our community. Thanks for being a part of the Pathway family. 👊

If you did not fill out the survey and would like to, you can do so here. It takes only 30 seconds and is a massive help.

Did you spot a job that we need to include or have feedback on the newsletter? Drop us an email!

SOCCER THOUGHT LEADER: TANNER CLAY OF CHARLESTON BATTERY

“It’s always just being hungry to be the best. And the best doesn’t always mean you’re selling the most, but you’re giving the best experience to your customers.”

Catching a Charleston Battery game at Patriots Point might be one of the coolest soccer stadium experiences in all of North America (yes, I said it).

Seriously, check out these views. 👀

Charleston’s Director of Revenue, Tanner Clay, is a big reason why “packing the point” is a common phrase heard throughout the local soccer community. After joining the Battery in 2021 as an Account Executive in ticket sales, Tanner quickly climbed the ranks to become the Director of Revenue by 2023.

Along the way, he’s continuously emphasized hard work, relationship building, and leading by example. As someone local to Charleston, I’ve witnessed Tanner in action firsthand, whether it’s scanning tickets, greeting guests, or assisting families in finding their seats. Tanner and his team are instrumental in delivering a first-class fan experience right here in the low country.

A former collegiate soccer player himself - a defender at the College of Charleston - Tanner spent the early part of his post-playing career working outside of the sport before making the transition back to the game he loves.

Nowadays, he combines both his passion for soccer and his experience in sales to help educate folks about the beautiful game and create lasting relationships within the local community. His career story is full of insights about breaking into the sport and developing skill sets that will help anyone as they progress from entry to management-level positions within an organization.

We hope you enjoy it!

John Bello, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer

Questions and answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity (and any emphasis below is ours).

PATHWAY: What sparked your passion for soccer and how did that evolve over your playing career?

TANNER: My love for the game started because of my older brother, Joseph Clay - he's about six years older than me. He played competitively through club and high school, and I was always that younger brother who was there as the ball boy, nagging his ear, trying to go out and practice with him in the backyard. So, at the end of the day, I always wanted to be like my older brother. I look up to him even to this day. That's how my passion for the game started from when I was two years old. 

I think as you play the game from the club level, competitive club, college, and through adult leagues, you try to pick up things from your teammates, from your coaching staff, and you learn a lot about yourself, or at least I have. An example would be dealing with adversity. Everyone wants to win, but you don't always win. Sometimes you “should win” and you've done all the work leading up to it. You've done all the running, you've done all the training sessions, but in the end the ball doesn't bounce your way. So, it's going back at it the next week, right? Short memory. And that very much translates into a sales role as well because you get nine “no's” and the 10th one could be a “yes”. 

PATHWAY: Post graduation you spent four years at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, becoming the manager of the largest branch in South Carolina. What were some of the key skills that you developed during that period and how did those help you as you transitioned into a career working in soccer?

TANNER: I started out as a management trainee. My job was to sell, and quickly build rapport with our clients or customers. So, really getting out of my comfort zone and speaking about selling insurance on rental cars, being aggressive, working with my team, but still trying to be at the top of the leaderboard each and every day. 

I quickly moved my way into a manager role, and in that role, I still had a territory to sell. I still had to do a lot of the same things, but now I have a team that I've got to manage. So, working with individuals that were older than me, younger than me, it gave me a bigger responsibility, and in the management role, you're also speaking with our clients, our body shops, our companies that we work with, trying to market to them and say, “we are the best in town,” this is why, and then you've got to show it, you can't just say it. You've got to put your foot on the ground, feet on the pavement, and show appreciation.

And how that transitioned into my current role, and in any role I've been in sales - It's always just being hungry to be the best. And the best doesn't always mean you're selling the most, but you're giving the best experience to your customers. Building those one-to-one relationships, because, at the end of the day, people can see a lack of authenticity. Especially in the South and Charleston where we are, everyone's hospitable. There's a lot to do. There are a lot of things that we compete against. And we have to build that one-to-one relationship so that we can stand out and hopefully pack the stands at each and every match.

PATHWAY: After spending 5+ years working outside of soccer you transitioned back into the sport. When did you start thinking about pivoting and what was your strategy to go out and land your first job?

TANNER: Coming out of college I knew I always wanted to be in and around soccer at some point in my life. In my first role at Enterprise I was strictly focused on building my personal brand here in the community, and seeing where it all goes.

As I went into my last year at Enterprise, I started coaching youth soccer - that was my first foot back into the door, working closely with the youth soccer clubs in town, re-engaging with my college, the College of Charleston, and seeing how I could give back my time and be a good resource for them. I loved my next job [at PhishLabs] - but I didn't wake up as excited as I am now to be able to just share the beautiful game with new people. There are tons of people moving into Charleston every single day and they might come from where there might be a MLS club or a local club that they support, but how can we get them on board with what we're building down here?

LinkedIn is really what helped me get my first role at the Battery. And it was just dumb luck really. I was always messaging folks who were within the club - a director of ticket sales, a marketing person, and there was just never any opportunity at the time and you know a role opened up under the new ownership group and I jumped on it as quickly as I could, prepared myself for the interview, and earned my role.

PATHWAY: Was there a skill gap when you transitioned into your first role at The Charleston Battery in ticket sales or did you find it to be more seamless?

TANNER: I think coming from a soccer background helped in the transition. Because when I first came in, I wasn't so much focused on moving dollars. It was more of how can I re-engage with “the low-hanging fruit” - the soccer families that I know, the business contacts that I know that might be working at soccer bars, or people that I've met just watching the game at downtown bars and things of that nature.

There are a few things that I think back on that I think could help someone who's trying to move up through the role, and that would be really engaging more with the community, getting out to your local chamber of commerce, and engaging with nonprofits locally.

And then the last thing I would say would be public speaking. It’s one thing to be behind the phone, make a hundred calls, and you've got a good 30-second elevator pitch. And knowing that at the end of the day, this person, they don't know you, and maybe you can hide behind that. But when you go out and physically are in person with a group of 10, 30, 40, or 50, there's nowhere to hide. You are your authentic self and you have to work the room. There's a science to all of it. I'm by no means perfect at it yet, but I feel confident walking into any room and talking about who we are, who I am, and why it makes sense to partner with us.

PATHWAY: Part of your job responsibility is getting out into the community, talking about soccer, and talking about the Charleston Battery. What's that mean to you to be able to do that professionally?

TANNER: It's a dream. I still pinch myself a lot of the days because I wake up and I'm excited to get to the office. There's a lot of people moving into town who might not know the history of the Battery, might not know the history of just U.S. soccer in general.

So, being able to give them the first taste of what it's like to be a part of a community that's bigger than just yourself. It's really fun and exciting and we say it a lot here - If we can just get them out to their first game, we're gonna get them hooked based on the experience that we're gonna provide within the stadium.

Not from just what's happening on the pitch because the boys are really good, but it's the pre-match concert, the food trucks, the kid’s activities, it's seeing your neighbors, seeing the pastor from your church, and just bringing that whole community together around one goal, which is to protect the point, protect our city, and represent our community.

PATHWAY: Drawing from your industry experience, what specific advice you could offer anyone aspiring to enter the soccer industry, and why would that advice be crucial? 

TANNER: I would say get involved early on. I think finding an internship with a local pro club is huge. But, if you can't do that, find a gameday role. Can you get there and can you scan tickets, can you work in the box office, can you work in the bar, or can you be an usher? Can you help with the gameday setup and the breakdown? Just being in and around the environment, being around those hiring managers, those directors, those CEOs, being in their system is gonna be huge for you as you build your resume. We like to see that you are comfortable and you know what you're getting into. 

A lot of professional sports teams now very much see their interns as their future pipeline for entry-level positions. We hired two full-time employees coming into this year that were interns from last season. Maybe you're a sophomore in college and you're doing a few other internships, but your senior year you enjoyed working for the sports club the most and those people that are working in the organization aren't gonna forget about what you did and the impact that you made. So, go in and be a fly on the wall, try to make a difference, even if it's a small thing because it can make a big difference for you in your career.

PATHWAY: What's motivated you to start coaching youth soccer and has coaching helped you in any way in what you're currently doing with the Battery?

TANNER: Growing up playing, I wouldn't say that I had aspirations of being a coach. I think I became a coach because some of the most fatherly figures I've ever met have been my coaches and I've learned the most about hard work, teamwork, and selflessness, all through the great coaches that I've had across many different sports. It's just something about giving back that is important to me. So it was just a natural fit for me to try to jump into that world. It's been really fun and rewarding to give back to kids because you see yourself in that position, but again, the game is always changing. 

A lot of the relationships that I've built from the coaching side help me close a lot of deals. Whether that be a season ticket package or a large group package. And again, like sales, it's all about referrals too. A lot of people are involved in soccer, but they're involved with other things too - A mom and a dad might run a company. They might go to a church and we can get the church group out. So it's all about the questions that you ask and the relationships that you build that will help propel you forward in a lot of the roles that you could be in and around in the sports world, especially in sales.

PATHWAY: What's your favorite thing about working in soccer?

TANNER: I think on the professional side, it's just seeing the excitement on game days. Seeing kids cheering, seeing fans be passionate. Seeing the stands full because of the work that you and your team have put in to get to that point.

There's so much that goes on behind the scenes to be able to see it all come together on match day and hopefully, we get a win and fans enjoy the experience. And then you do it again the next week. I would say that's probably the most rewarding thing just to see the fans and the hard work that you and your team put in.

Ed. note: You can connect with Tanner on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).

PATHWAY MENTORSHIP OPPORTUNITY: 1-ON-1 WITH TANNER CLAY

Tanner has kindly offered to conduct two (2) 1-on-1 mentorship sessions. If you’re interested in speaking with Tanner directly, click below to raise your hand for the opportunity. 🙋

• PATHWAY MENTORSHIP APPLICATION: Tanner Clay, Charleston Battery [apply here!]

SOCCER JOBS: THE MOST INTERESTING NEW JOBS IN SOCCER

New soccer jobs get posted every week and we like to highlight a few of the roles that stand out to us. We’ll do that… now. ⬇️

• Senior Director, Club Performance - MLS

• Vice President, Partnership Marketing - USL

• Director, Team Operations - NJ/NY Gotham FC

• Assistant Women’s Coach - Virginia Wesleyan University

• Coordinator, Community Relations - Charleston Battery

• Coordinator, Competitions - South Texas Youth Soccer Association

Want to see all the soccer jobs in one place? Sign up for our weekly “Pathway Jobs Newsletter” where we aggregate as many as 100 new soccer job listings - and drop it into your inbox every Friday.

DO THIS NOW: FOLLOW THESE ACCOUNTS [USL EDITION]

One of the most fascinating things to witness in American soccer over the last 10+ years has to be the significant growth of the game in smaller, midsized markets across the U.S.

That growth has largely been driven by United Soccer League clubs as both men’s teams - in the USL Championship, USL League One, and USL League Two - and women’s teams - in the USL W-League and USL Super League (beginning play this year!) - have popped up all over the country.

USL now has more than 150 professional and pre-professional clubs - and at least a dozen more on deck to join in the coming years. 📈

So, for Part III of our “Follow These Accounts” series to get you plugged into American soccer, we present a whole bunch of USL Championship and USL League One follow recommendations (with more to come in the future as W-League and Super League seasons get closer!).

DO THIS NOW: Follow these accounts to stay up to date on all things USL Championship and USL League One.

• Phil Baki

• Walkin 90

• USL Tactics 

• Elliot J. Barr

• Mauricio Ruiz

• Brandon Mays

• Kaylor Hodges

• The USL Show

• League One Updater

• One League Under the C

We’ve focused mostly on those individuals and accounts that are covering USL at a national level but there are a ton of club-specific, local accounts outside of this group worth following. If you want to find those accounts, you can look to see who the above individuals are following. 👍

Go soccer!

-Kyle Sheldon, Founder & CEO

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We hope you have a great week filled with all the soccer you can handle.

• John Bello

• Kyle Sheldon

• Nolan Sheldon