Speaker 1: Time for another soccer down here one v one and
Speaker 1: for this one we head out west and catch up
Speaker 1: with meet the new boss same as the old boss.
Speaker 1: I guess it is probably the best way to phrase it.
Speaker 1: Raal San Jose is back RSJ, back in the NPSL
Speaker 1: and hanging out with US owner manager Nick Rolano. Nick,
Speaker 1: thanks for dropping by for a one v one.
Speaker 2: Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: So when it came to I want to go back
Speaker 1: to the beginning, beginning, and I want to get everybody
Speaker 1: acquainted with RSJ from the absolute beginning of everything. When
Speaker 1: you started started the first time, What was the the
Speaker 1: impetus to start real San Jose in the soccer footprint
Speaker 1: there in northern California.
Speaker 2: Well, uh it simply put, it was MLS left San
Speaker 2: Jose and there was a void and I had published
Speaker 2: a magazine starting in the late eighties and somebody had
Speaker 2: to do something, and uh so I started the club
Speaker 2: to see, you know, to see what would happened.
Speaker 1: And what was the initial response and how did RSJ
Speaker 1: grow over time in that in that first first version
Speaker 1: of itself.
Speaker 2: Well, the response was pretty good. Actually, we had a
Speaker 2: number of players playing for us. The community showed up
Speaker 2: of the games, not in like massive numbers or anything,
Speaker 2: but you know, we we got a crowd uh that
Speaker 2: pretty much paid for the games. Uh and uh we
Speaker 2: uh we went through a lot of a massive learning experience.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: A lot of it is in my book called Midnight Game.
Speaker 2: We went on this road trip from San Jose to
Speaker 2: started out to go to New Mexico but didn't make it,
Speaker 2: and our other part of the road trip was to
Speaker 2: al Paso. Then after the Paso on Saturday, we went
Speaker 2: back to New Mexico and finished the road trip. But
Speaker 2: you see that was a difference, right, we were traveling
Speaker 2: a lot. Colorado would come to our stadium. Uh, you
Speaker 2: know we would. Uh. At the time, our division basically
Speaker 2: was saving the Southwest Division and so we urged them.
Speaker 2: So you're looking at maybe forty teams at our level
Speaker 2: across the country and now today there's got to be
Speaker 2: at least fifty that claimed to be in the fourth
Speaker 2: Division just in the Bay area here. So it's a
Speaker 2: big difference between then and now.
Speaker 1: So what's the biggest challenge of now, Well.
Speaker 2: For me, for real San Jose is to just adjust
Speaker 2: back to the NPSL. We had spent the last guys.
Speaker 2: Since we left and what sixteen or seventeen, we've been
Speaker 2: league building. So I was involved in building a couple
Speaker 2: national leagues, and at this point it was like, you know,
Speaker 2: I got to do what's best for the club and
Speaker 2: just concentrate only on Real San Jose. And so we
Speaker 2: decided that we would go back to the NPSA and
Speaker 2: just be Real San Jose.
Speaker 1: Because today there is an alphabet soup. I mean, there
Speaker 1: are leagues everywhere you turn. What was it about the
Speaker 1: NPSL that attracted you to them and their approach and
Speaker 1: their timetable and their schedules over everybody else.
Speaker 2: Well, A lot of it has to do with presenting
Speaker 2: the game, following standards. Okay, the last few years we've
Speaker 2: been playing in parts with some teams and the standards
Speaker 2: just wasn't there. I mean, they are good teams, okay,
Speaker 2: But there's a difference between a glorified Sunday league and
Speaker 2: a league like the NPSL, Okay, where the clubs are
Speaker 2: professionally run. And during this time, Real Sanaday has always
Speaker 2: operated to those standards, regardless of what league we were in.
Speaker 2: We had the stadium, we had the sound of banners,
Speaker 2: you know, charge admission. We did everything that a professional,
Speaker 2: professionally run club should be. So for us, it was
Speaker 2: just kind of getting back to where we belong.
Speaker 1: And I know that a lot of folks sit there
Speaker 1: and go, well, yeah, twenty twenty five the season, Yeah
Speaker 1: it's over there in you know, a late late spring,
Speaker 1: early summer. Yeah, everything's fine. But what a lot of
Speaker 1: folks don't know is the organization that has to go
Speaker 1: into that. And it's like, yeah, it's over there, but
Speaker 1: it's not over there. We've got to get a lot
Speaker 1: of things moving and make sure that we're there and
Speaker 1: presenting things the way that we want to present them
Speaker 1: as we come back into the NPSL. I always like
Speaker 1: to ask this of new owners and folks. There's got
Speaker 1: to be a whiteboard somewhere, or there's got to be
Speaker 1: a document or a Google doc or something somewhere that
Speaker 1: has this list of everything that you have to do
Speaker 1: to get ready for match week one. Where are you
Speaker 1: on that to do list? And what do you think
Speaker 1: the next thing that you can cross off that to
Speaker 1: do list is to get you ready for the season.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, we can host a game tomorrow. Our
Speaker 2: standards haven't changed. Uh So we're ready to go. But
Speaker 2: as far as adjusting to the NPSL, we got to
Speaker 2: like we uh we started this YouTube channel where we
Speaker 2: came up with a lot of original music and we're
Speaker 2: doing a lot of kind of fun things to kind
Speaker 2: of reinvent the club. Uh and uh it's for this
Speaker 2: new this new chapter. Uh so so yeah, just getting
Speaker 2: them add the word out the advertising, reinvent us a
Speaker 2: little bit, you know. Really that's about it. I mean,
Speaker 2: we've got everybody in place. We got our stadium staff,
Speaker 2: I've got a general manager that's helping me out, same stadium,
Speaker 2: same everything. So we're basically ready to go.
Speaker 1: And you're going into I imagine you're going into Golden
Speaker 1: Gate when they.
Speaker 2: Get Yeah, I helped name that.
Speaker 1: I mean, so you're going into a conference that you
Speaker 1: helped name when RSJ was there in round number one,
Speaker 1: and you're going in there with El Fadlito, who made
Speaker 1: it to the last game of the year. They've always
Speaker 1: been strong. Napa Valley's in there, Oakland's in there, the
Speaker 1: Stompers are in their Sacramento San Ramon. I mean, this
Speaker 1: isn't the this isn't the football equivalent of chopped liver.
Speaker 1: Or something that you pick up, you know at Ralphs
Speaker 1: that's got an expiration data of today that you've got
Speaker 1: to buy if you really want it. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is some heavyweight stuff that you're getting into in the
Speaker 1: Golden Gate.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no fear, we know them all. I've had one
Speaker 2: of my high school players played for Al far Leado
Speaker 2: the last season. But there has been some major changes,
Speaker 2: and this is a big change in Northern California soccer.
Speaker 2: The NPSL is going through some changes, which is one
Speaker 2: of the reasons why I wanted to go back in.
Speaker 2: NAP is no longer with us, San Ramon's no longer
Speaker 2: with us. We're bringing in some new teams and we're
Speaker 2: going to be strengthening the conference at least for professionalism
Speaker 2: for the most part, and I think you're gonna see
Speaker 2: a better competition. You're going to see some better news
Speaker 2: coming out of here, more united front from the Golden
Speaker 2: Gate Conference and maybe even the West Coast, because I mean,
Speaker 2: let's just be honest, it's a tough business that we're
Speaker 2: in and it's you know, teams come and go. Okay.
Speaker 2: I've been lucky enough to keep this pretty much the
Speaker 2: same thing going since two thousand and seven. But it's
Speaker 2: not easy, okay, And we don't own our stadiums. You know,
Speaker 2: we're subject to a lot of the society's whims, politicians whims.
Speaker 2: If you try to be a serious club, okay, you
Speaker 2: got to deal with the politicians. You got to follow
Speaker 2: the you know, actually you know, form an LLC, I
Speaker 2: trade mark Reale, San Jose the name, you know, get
Speaker 2: your yearly business license and then work with all the
Speaker 2: politicians and hopefully, you know, make things happen that you
Speaker 2: need to get happened. And you know, so it's it's tough.
Speaker 1: What's it like encouraging others of a like mindset to
Speaker 1: come and be a part of Golden Gate in the
Speaker 1: Western part of the NPSL. What's it like to be
Speaker 1: a party to those conversations and someone to encourage growth
Speaker 1: they are in the West when it the nps selling
Speaker 1: what they want to do and what you guys want
Speaker 1: to do.
Speaker 2: Well the brand NPSL. I mean, we've been around for
Speaker 2: forever and I seen say we because I was back
Speaker 2: there in two thousand and seven when it was just
Speaker 2: twenty guys sitting around the table trying to grow it out. Okay,
Speaker 2: and so. But it has changed over the years, and
Speaker 2: you can argue for the better for worse, but the
Speaker 2: bottom line, okay, the league has sustained itself. It's kept going.
Speaker 2: And so the one thing is the brand. Okay, that's important. Okay,
Speaker 2: you know that the league's going to be around two Okay,
Speaker 2: you know that you're going to be with owners that
Speaker 2: take this seriously and whether they win or lose, they're
Speaker 2: not looking to fold up the tents. They're looking to
Speaker 2: build their brand, build a league, brand, their stability. It's
Speaker 2: not like, you know, one season, you know you're going
Speaker 2: to have so many teams and then you got you know,
Speaker 2: then guys just drop out just because they can't get
Speaker 2: enough players or whatever. There's a there's a big difference
Speaker 2: where in the NPSL, you I, you're gonna have stronger
Speaker 2: organizations and the players. And I don't mean this in
Speaker 2: a negative way, because the players are the ones that
Speaker 2: actually play the game. But you know you're gonna you're
Speaker 2: gonna be able to sustain, you know, turning over rosters
Speaker 2: and uh and still have your your club strong and
Speaker 2: still moving. So that's kind of what how I would
Speaker 2: approach it to prospective owners.
Speaker 1: When it comes to your phone or your WhatsApp or
Speaker 1: you're texting. Has your phone blown up since the announcement
Speaker 1: that you were jumping back into the nps O.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, everybody wants to sell you something, right, Uh
Speaker 2: so I got that. Uh But then again, you know
Speaker 2: in the post that aside a lot of players have
Speaker 2: contacted have contacted me. But we've been around, you know,
Speaker 2: long enough that it's not like it's just brand new.
Speaker 2: Everyone kind of knows who we are, what we stand for,
Speaker 2: and so yeah, I wouldn't say like the brand new
Speaker 2: thing where you know, everybody asked questions. It's more like, okay,
Speaker 2: how can we join, how can we sell you something?
Speaker 1: Pitching up with Real San Jose as they rejoined the NPSL.
Speaker 1: Do you remember that first day of twenty guys sitting
Speaker 1: around a table back in two thousand and seven. What
Speaker 1: do you remember about that first day?
Speaker 2: Well, we had a spreadsheet open up on the screen,
Speaker 2: had Excel sheet with all the expenses, and we just
Speaker 2: sat around the table and argued where we were going
Speaker 2: to spend the money and how we're going to get
Speaker 2: enough money to keep the league going. And so it
Speaker 2: was like a real business okay. I mean you sat
Speaker 2: there and you had twenty business partners and we all
Speaker 2: had ideas, okay, and we all just kind of somehow
Speaker 2: managed to make it work. Then somewhere along the line
Speaker 2: that changed, and at the time, I didn't realize what
Speaker 2: the effect would be, but I really hope, and I
Speaker 2: don't know if I'm speaking out of bounds here, but
Speaker 2: it would be I would hope that the NPSI went
Speaker 2: back to being a for profit business and got away
Speaker 2: from the nonprofit business structure where the owners are owners
Speaker 2: and not just members. Because when that happened, a lot
Speaker 2: of the voices for the ownership the owners of the
Speaker 2: clubs just disappeared because now the league was just being
Speaker 2: run by a few small people. Not small people, but
Speaker 2: a small number of people. So yeah, that's what I hope.
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know if that's going to happen.
Speaker 2: It's not. I mean, obviously I'm coming back again, so
Speaker 2: I'm going to go with whatever structures there, and like
Speaker 2: I said, I'm just not going to be in the
Speaker 2: league building but just concentrate on my own club. But
Speaker 2: that was a key thing.
Speaker 1: Do you look at yourself as a role model when
Speaker 1: it comes to establishing a franchise, building a franchise, maintaining
Speaker 1: a franchise. Do you look at yourself that way as
Speaker 1: an example for others how they can be successful?
Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, I'd like to think that I've done things
Speaker 2: the right way. There was a lot of things that
Speaker 2: happened to me that first year, which I thought was
Speaker 2: pretty ridiculous, and it was like a lot of people
Speaker 2: were just trying to take advantage of me because I
Speaker 2: was new, and I swore I would never let that
Speaker 2: happen again, and I've never let that happen to any
Speaker 2: new club that came in. You know, I would always
Speaker 2: take real San Jose and be the first road team
Speaker 2: for a lot of teams because you know they can
Speaker 2: count on us to behave properly treat the event for
Speaker 2: as special as it is, and help them give a
Speaker 2: good first impression. Now, granted, we'd like to win the game,
Speaker 2: of course, but but as far as you know, presenting
Speaker 2: the league, presenting their club for the first time, okay,
Speaker 2: I've always volunteered my team to go to those those games,
Speaker 2: and as far as running things the right way, you know,
Speaker 2: you've got to get involved with the community as best
Speaker 2: you can. You. You have to follow the business structures, okay,
Speaker 2: you know, former proper business and follow all those all
Speaker 2: those things that are a real business is gonna do,
Speaker 2: and you're just not gonna be, you know, just showing
Speaker 2: up and putting the team together and going out and play,
Speaker 2: you know. So yeah, I mean there's there's the standards
Speaker 2: that you have to follow and take it seriously both
Speaker 2: on and off the field.
Speaker 1: What advice would you give to another first year club?
Speaker 1: And I mean it could be you know, insert first
Speaker 1: year club here. I mean this year joining in ASC
Speaker 1: New York. We've talked to them and they have a
Speaker 1: history in the NASL, Buffalo Stallions coming back district Elite,
Speaker 1: FC Pride, We talked to Osner's PDA, you, Rostosi and
Speaker 1: Santa Cruz and you're all coming into the league this year.
Speaker 1: What advice would you give insert you know, soccer franchise
Speaker 1: FC about a first year? What advice would you give
Speaker 1: to a new owner in a league about that first year?
Speaker 1: What advice would you give?
Speaker 2: Manage your money? Okay? One of one of the things
Speaker 2: that I've seen, it happened to me, okay, is you
Speaker 2: have all this money and there's all these things you
Speaker 2: want to do, and then you just go out and
Speaker 2: you just spend it okay, and you think that you
Speaker 2: need to and you really don't. What you need need
Speaker 2: to do is stay focused on what you can do
Speaker 2: as a first year team, because you have a lot
Speaker 2: of first year expenses that you aren't going to have,
Speaker 2: and you just can't think that you're going to go
Speaker 2: first class all the way. You just can't think the
Speaker 2: same sponsorship you're gonna get that first year is going
Speaker 2: to be there in your two, three, four, five, six, seven, Okay.
Speaker 2: So you've got to build for longevity. You have to
Speaker 2: stay calm okay, and build step by step and just
Speaker 2: manage your money in the right way because you know,
Speaker 2: in the early years, especially, teams would win the championship okay,
Speaker 2: and go broke because of the expenses of having to
Speaker 2: go to the championship game and travel across the country.
Speaker 2: That's why back I remember back in the when we
Speaker 2: actually put in that we increase the dues, the league
Speaker 2: dues enough to cover any playoff travel so that teams
Speaker 2: wouldn't be u be killed for being successful. So you've
Speaker 2: got to manage that and and I think that's that's
Speaker 2: the key thing. Let's just keep an eye on the money.
Speaker 1: Coming back to the NPSL Ral San Jose, Nick. It
Speaker 1: was a great conversation. It went a lot of directions
Speaker 1: that I didn't anticipate, but that's the fun part of
Speaker 1: doing these one v ones is catching up with folks
Speaker 1: as they get ready for the season and finding out
Speaker 1: how life is in their particular part of the footprint.
Speaker 1: Thanks for dropping by for a one v one. We'll
Speaker 1: be keeping an eye on things out there, and we'll
Speaker 1: be following what's going on there in the conference that
Speaker 1: you named. Thanks thanks for dropping by for a one
Speaker 1: v one. We really appreciate it, all
Speaker 2: Right, thank you for having me