Findlay Times

Having a special connection to one’s hometown – its people, food, culture and of course, the local sports scene – is all too common. It’s only natural to feel kinship with the place where one spent their formative years. This in mind, being a die-hard fan of local sports teams usually comes with the territory. For Sam Seibert, lifelong soccer aficionado, this is absolutely the case. However, Sam may have taken his love for the game a bit further than most – he bought a local team!

In only three months’ time, Sam went from interning with the Cleveland Pro Sports Soccer Club to being their bona fide owner. Oddly enough, this North Coast City native would have never had the opportunity without some help from his Tiffin University mentors.

“My time in TU’s sports management MBA program was definitely well-spent,” he began. “The connections I formed and set of skills acquired absolutely came in handy as I was taking over the pro soccer club. In fact, this all started because of an internship I was required to complete for the master’s program. A former professor initially helped me get my foot in the door, and the rest is history.”

According to Sam, it should come as no surprise that these events shook out the way they did. As a self-proclaimed lifelong fan of Cleveland and its recreation community, he claims this has been a dream of his since childhood.

“I wanted to do something where I could influence the Cleveland sports scene – make the biggest impact possible. Always have, even as a kid, though I didn’t know how that would look at the time. So, when I bought the team, nobody was shocked – it was a longtime goal finally achieved. I briefly thought about working in the baseball or football industry instead, but in my opinion, soccer offers more opportunities for growth both from the community aspect as well as the business side of things.”

Sam’s early success as the team’s owner is especially impressive, given that he, having never owned a team before, was able to take over and prepare for the upcoming season in just under three months. While he admits the transition did come with some growing pains, the support he received from his players and leadership team, along with his TU education helped to see him through it.

“It all happened in the blink of an eye, or at least it feels that way,” Sam offered. “There was a vacancy that needed filling, so I took a chance and dropped everything to step up. Thanks to my prior connection to the team through my internship, I knew whom to contact with the pitch. Thankfully, it went well, but the real work didn’t start until after I signed on. It was tough hitting the ground running like that, but the TU master’s program taught me how to effectively network, seek answers and market. I think we’ve come a loHaving a special connection to one’s hometown – its people, food, culture and of course, the local sports scene – is all too common. It’s only natural to feel kinship with the place where one spent their formative yearsng way since then, too.”

Given the team’s success during the 2018 season and beyond, it’s safe to say this checks out. Shortly after Sam took over, the team finished the 2018 National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) season second in the Eastern Conference of the Midwest region. In 2019, they reached the national semifinals after finishing first in their league, and even competed for the 2020 U.S. Open Cup. After a brief hiatus, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team qualified for the 2022 U.S. Open Cup again, and while they didn’t take home the win, it left them hungry for more and anxious to start the 2023 season.

“I think I’m the most proud of the fact that we were able to do so well and compete against teams that recruit internationally using only players from this region,” Sam mused. “How cool is it to be able to say that Cleveland, the rest of the state and the Midwest overall has such talent in their own backyards? Maybe someday, we’ll start casting a wider net when it becomes necessary, but for now, we can compete without doing so. It makes me proud of the place that helped raise me, and I hope I can help to make Cleveland’s sports legacy something even more people can be proud of for years to come.”

To learn more about the Cleveland Pro Sports Soccer Club, visit clevelandsoccerclub.com/aboutus.

For more information on TU’s MBA in sports management program, visit  go.tiffin.edu/masters-programs/master-business-administration/sports-management.

Original source can be found here.