IN THIS ISSUE
👀 Sponsor Pathway: 10,000 readers
⚽️ Soccer Jobs: 20 new jobs just for you
🗣️ Career Tips: Stop waiting for your soccer dream job
↔️ Extra Extra: Messi, Balogun, and big youth soccer news
REACH 10,000 READERS
Every Wednesday, this newsletter lands in front of almost 10,000 people who are building their careers in the soccer industry.
Our subscribers include employees who work at 29 of 30 MLS clubs, 14 of 16 NWSL clubs, 40+ USL clubs, as well as U.S. Soccer, FIFA, the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, ESPN, CBS, DAZN, NBC, and hundreds of other clubs and companies impacting the soccer industry in America.
Readers open each issue at a 68% clip - and you can now reach them every week.
We've opened up a handful of ad spots:
Presenting Sponsor: Banner placement at the very top of the email
Featured Job: Your role at the top of the jobs section with your logo, a short write-up, and a direct apply link
Social Amplification: A featured job placement, plus posts on my LinkedIn and X (40k combined followers)
See options and pricing here →
And if you want to know more, drop me a line: [email protected]
-Kyle Sheldon, Co-Founder & CEO
NEW SOCCER JOBS
- Head of Business - DC Power FC
- Manager, Content - MLS NEXT Pro
- Sr Manager, FP&A - San Diego FC
- Academy Director - FC Cincinnati
- Editor, Video and Content - LA Galaxy
- Marketing Director - San Diego Wave FC
- Director of Partnerships - The Island FC
- Sr Director, Digital Product - LA Galaxy
- Podcast Producer - U.S. Soccer Federation
- Executive Director, NWSL Foundation - NWSL
- Senior Director, Partnership Sales - Bay FC
- Vice President, Enterprise Partnership - MLS
- Vice President, Community & Impact - Gotham FC
- Assistant General Counsel - Kansas City Current
- Sr. Director, Revenue Marketing - Houston Dynamo FC
- Sr. Manager/Director of Marketing - Rhode Island FC
- Senior Manager, Soccer Analytics & Data Science - MLS
- Senior Performance Therapist - U.S. Soccer Federation
- Sr. Manager, Partnership Development - Orlando City SC
- Vice President, Corporate Partnerships - Kansas City Current
⚽️ CAREER TIP: WHAT IF THE SETBACK IS THE SIGNAL?
There are two ways people respond to a setback.
Some put their heads down, feel sorry for themselves, and stall out.
Others treat it as an opportunity to pivot.
I know which side I landed on. But only because I was forced to.
MY SETBACK
I was the head of marketing at the Chicago Fire.
Three years in, the club made a series of changes and I was unexpectedly let go.
At the time, it didn't feel at all like an opportunity. It felt like the floor had dropped out.
But when I look back on it now, I feel something I never expected to feel about getting fired.
Gratitude.
Because that setback gave me things I didn't know I needed:
Space to reassess my future
Time to double down on what actually mattered to me
A chance to ask a bigger question: What else could I do?
I'm not sure I would have started Name & Number if I hadn't been let go.
The idea of starting an agency was always a dream.
But I needed the push to finally take action.
Losing that job turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me.
WHY THIS MATTERS FOR YOUR CAREER
Setbacks are part of every career in this industry.
You'll get passed over for a role.
A job will end before you're ready.
A leadership change will move the ground beneath you.
It happens to everyone, even the people whose careers look effortless from the outside.
What separates people isn't whether they face setbacks.
It's what they do with them.
HOW TO TREAT A SETBACK LIKE A SIGNAL
Give Yourself a Moment, Then Get Moving 🚚
It's okay to feel the sting. A setback is real, and it's allowed to hurt.
But, don't set up camp there.
The people who recover fastest are the ones who let themselves feel it and then start asking what's next.
Use the Space to Learn 👨🏫
A setback often creates something you rarely have when everything's going well: time.
Time to develop a skill.
Time to reflect on what you actually want.
Time to connect with others to listen and learn.
Time to explore a direction you'd been putting off.
Don't waste it.
Use it to come back sharper.
Ask the Bigger Question 🙋
When one door closes, the instinct is to immediately find another door exactly like it.
Sometimes that's right.
But, sometimes the setback is your chance to ask a better question:
What else can I do?
What have I always wanted to try?
What's the dream I've been too comfortable to chase?
Some of the best career moves come from being pushed out of a place you never would have left on your own.
Look for the Push 🫸
A lot of people have a dream they never act on because things are just fine where they are.
A setback removes the "fine."
And sometimes that's exactly the push you needed to finally build the thing you've been thinking about for years.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
The setbacks in your career will feel like failures in the moment.
Some of them will turn out to be the best things that ever happened to you.
👉 Here's a question worth sitting with this week: What would you do differently if you treated a setback like a signal instead of a failure?
The answer might point you somewhere better than where you were headed.
-Kyle Sheldon, Co-Founder & CEO
ICYMI: MUST-READ ARTICLES
📰 Extra! Extra! Here are a few quick reads to stay up to date with the latest soccer happenings...
U20 USWNT drop 1st group stage match of U20 World Cup [via ESPN] - After losing 2-1 to Italy, the USA will face a tough challenge in Japan.
Cavan Sullivan era has arrived [via MLS] - The 16-year old has goal contributions in five straight games, a record.
$9.89 Billion [via Yahoo Sports] - According to a FIFA report, that is the number spent on summer transfers in 2026. English clubs alone spent upwards of $3 billion on transfers.
ALSO…
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SEE YOU SOON, SOCCER FRIENDS
