Speaker 1: Hello everyone, My name is Madison Cruz. Welcome to another
Speaker 1: SDH network one V one. I am enjoyed with Real
Speaker 1: Lansing's FC's president Rufus Isaacs. Rufus. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2: I'm doing great. It's great to talk to you.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. One thing that I want to ask to especially
Speaker 1: for everyone listening, is how did Real Lansing FC start?
Speaker 1: For you guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so this really started two or three years ago.
Speaker 2: It was the brainchild of our founder, Paul Chatfield, and
Speaker 2: Paul's a teacher in the Lanson School district. He's a
Speaker 2: passionate soccer fan and he wanted to see if he
Speaker 2: could give back to the community by starting this youth
Speaker 2: soccer team, youth soccer club, and he's been talking to
Speaker 2: a lot of the kids in his school. They're very
Speaker 2: passionate about soccer, and so he thought, well, maybe we
Speaker 2: can put a club together and started off with a
Speaker 2: few teams. The first year, I think that was twenty
Speaker 2: twenty three. That went really well, and last year we
Speaker 2: put six teams into our local regional league and now
Speaker 2: we're planning for twenty twenty five. Once the snow gets
Speaker 2: out of here and we'll we'll have even more teams
Speaker 2: for this summer.
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, yeah. I mean it's cold up here, you know,
Speaker 1: in Georgia, but I can't only imagine what it's like
Speaker 1: over there right now.
Speaker 2: Honestly, we're playing everything indoors right now, and you should.
Speaker 1: You gotta stay warm, You got to keep everything going, absolutely.
Speaker 1: But I want to ask to like, how did you
Speaker 1: build the club to where it is today? Because it
Speaker 1: is still a very very young club with what you
Speaker 1: guys have been able to do, But I mean, how
Speaker 1: have you been able to build it into what it
Speaker 1: is now?
Speaker 2: Yeah? So you're right, we just started in the last
Speaker 2: year or two. I think there's been a lot of
Speaker 2: great passionate soccer fans that have come together around this idea.
Speaker 2: We you know, we we loved the idea of having
Speaker 2: a Lancing school district focused club. You know, this city
Speaker 2: has a lot of kids that really would love to
Speaker 2: play soccer, but they just kind of afford the costs
Speaker 2: of entry to that. And so part of the vision
Speaker 2: for this is is to break down that pay to
Speaker 2: play model, try and do fundraising, bring the community together
Speaker 2: around this idea and then provide the opportunity for these kids.
Speaker 2: Many of whom love the game but don't have a
Speaker 2: structured way to haven't had a structured way to play
Speaker 2: it to be you know, to be training, practicing, learning
Speaker 2: the skills, and then playing to represent this club in
Speaker 2: the local leagues.
Speaker 1: What were some of the challenges in building this because
Speaker 1: obviously it is very much community led in everything. What
Speaker 1: were some of the biggest challenges that you guys faced.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I think part of it is just selling
Speaker 2: that vision to other people. Polls done an amazing job
Speaker 2: of bringing people together that, as I mentioned, had the
Speaker 2: same kind of idea or supported that idea. So that
Speaker 2: was the beginning was getting more than Paul, and you know,
Speaker 2: he put a huge amount of time in, but he
Speaker 2: brought a group together. We now have a board that's formed.
Speaker 2: You know, we're a nonprofit. Took some of the weight
Speaker 2: off his shoulders and brought new skills together and then
Speaker 2: started recruiting coaches as well. So last year we had
Speaker 2: a group of coaches that ran the teams and we're
Speaker 2: building that. So that was that was just a challenge
Speaker 2: to bring the right people together, but I think we're
Speaker 2: there now. Of course, starting any operation like this, you
Speaker 2: need to have fundraising, so that's been a big focus
Speaker 2: as well, and the community has definitely stepped up and
Speaker 2: helped us with that. We've got some great sponsors GoFundMe
Speaker 2: that's helped bring some funding in and then and then people,
Speaker 2: you know, people have been even with donations. Some of
Speaker 2: these some of these early games last summer we didn't have,
Speaker 2: you know, we didn't have soccer equipment, didn't have pleats
Speaker 2: and and shint guards for many of the players. So
Speaker 2: so that's been great too for people to help out
Speaker 2: in lots of different ways to make this work.
Speaker 1: I think that feeds into my next question, what were
Speaker 1: some of the things that you guys did to get
Speaker 1: the community involved, because it seems like they all were
Speaker 1: just willing to go ahead and pitch in. And what's
Speaker 1: it also like having a community like that that is
Speaker 1: up there uplifting you guys and supporting you guys at
Speaker 1: every angle.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's amazing, it's and it's essential for us
Speaker 2: to succeed. So those partnerships have been fantastic. We we
Speaker 2: have a really great soccer community here in Lansing. There's
Speaker 2: there's just a lot of love for the game. There's
Speaker 2: the local Lancing Common FC, team that we'll talk about later.
Speaker 2: And there's a whole group of supporters that have come
Speaker 2: together around that club who all you know, stepped up
Speaker 2: and helped us. So I think, yeah, I think being
Speaker 2: part of a community where that club's more on the
Speaker 2: adult side, so they're you know, semi pro players in
Speaker 2: their twenties, they have a different mission, but they really
Speaker 2: support what we've done, and I can see the value
Speaker 2: of having this youth team, and of course a lot
Speaker 2: of the local schools they're really supportive as well. And
Speaker 2: then some of the other teams within that league that
Speaker 2: I mentioned that we play in, they've supported us too,
Speaker 2: and some even did their own fundraising and then donated
Speaker 2: that money to the club. So like one thing last summer,
Speaker 2: I went out to a game by this local Haslet
Speaker 2: the town's called Haslet Football Club, and their kids had
Speaker 2: done a fundraiser and brought brought a big, you know,
Speaker 2: big check together and we did the presentation at the
Speaker 2: game where our two teams played each other. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it's been fantastic getting that support.
Speaker 1: That's so cool. I just I can only imagine what
Speaker 1: it's like just to see something like that for you,
Speaker 1: like building it up and then seeing those communities in
Speaker 1: those clubs and those teams come together to help you
Speaker 1: guys and uplift each other. Because I think that's the
Speaker 1: beauty of this game, is that that can happen, and
Speaker 1: that's just so cool to hear. I just that's awesome.
Speaker 2: But yeah, and then some of our players, just to
Speaker 2: add to that, some of our players have you know,
Speaker 2: they're relatively new Americans who come to this country with
Speaker 2: an absolute passion for the game, and they may still
Speaker 2: be learning, you know, learning about this country and learning
Speaker 2: about language and other things, but they're playing together on
Speaker 2: a team with people from around the world. I think
Speaker 2: we've got something like fifteen different languages in our team,
Speaker 2: but these kids speak and so the language of soccer
Speaker 2: brings them all together and they can play and enjoy
Speaker 2: the game and still kind of feel that they're part
Speaker 2: of a community in that team as well as they
Speaker 2: you know, as they integrate into life in the US.
Speaker 2: So there's a lot of there's a lot of those
Speaker 2: connections that are happening because we're bringing people together around
Speaker 2: this idea.
Speaker 1: I think that goes into this next thing. I mean,
Speaker 1: what does it mean to you guys to get the
Speaker 1: early Bird grant that you guys just received. I mean,
Speaker 1: what did it feel like when you got that news?
Speaker 2: Oh, it was fantastic. We put one of the applications
Speaker 2: in and we didn't know, you know, we didn't know
Speaker 2: what would happen, didn't know if they'd select us, and
Speaker 2: we got that email. And I even want to promote
Speaker 2: the idea here because this is the this is the
Speaker 2: Early Bird Coffee and it's from this Strange Matter coffee
Speaker 2: firm that's here, a coffee company that's here in Lansing,
Speaker 2: and they've partnered with Lanson Common FC for a number
Speaker 2: of years. They've sold coffee at the stadium and they
Speaker 2: have they have a long standing connection, been great supporters
Speaker 2: of that club. And the way it works now is
Speaker 2: that if you buy a copy of that Early Bird
Speaker 2: Coffee Strange Matter, which you can get online too, so
Speaker 2: even if you're in Georgia somewhere else you could you
Speaker 2: could order it. A part of that proceeds goes to
Speaker 2: this Early Bird fund. And then when they get to
Speaker 2: five hundred and seventeen dollars, which seems like a weird number,
Speaker 2: but that's our local area code, so five one seven.
Speaker 2: Once you get to that number, they donate that money
Speaker 2: to one of these organizations that they've selected. So we're
Speaker 2: looking forward to people buying lots of coffee getting to
Speaker 2: that five one seven number and then we'll get the
Speaker 2: check from them. So it's a great partnership. It's it's
Speaker 2: a whole bunch of different people that love soccer working
Speaker 2: together here in the community. And ye know, proud to
Speaker 2: be that one of the first to get that to
Speaker 2: get that funding this year.
Speaker 1: How will that grant help you guys continue to grow
Speaker 1: everything that you guys are doing up at Real Lansing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think that we're not sure exactly when
Speaker 2: the check will come in, so that might affect exactly
Speaker 2: what we do for it. But yeah, we have we
Speaker 2: have an order out for new kids for this for
Speaker 2: this season for the players, so that will probably help
Speaker 2: us cover some of those costs. And we want the
Speaker 2: players all to be in in our colors this summer
Speaker 2: as we as we get out on the pitch, so
Speaker 2: I think we'll probably go for that as we prepare
Speaker 2: for the Capital Area Soccer League matches probably starting up
Speaker 2: in April or May.
Speaker 1: What does it mean to have the support of the
Speaker 1: semi professional club Lansing Common FC helping you guys continue
Speaker 1: to grow the youth game as well up in Lansing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so important. I think a lot of our
Speaker 2: players look up to that team. It's it's their local team,
Speaker 2: and they in their first year, some of them had
Speaker 2: a practice jersey that had the Lancing Common logo on there,
Speaker 2: so they're starting to make that connection and that this
Speaker 2: is a you know, the team that the bigger kids
Speaker 2: might move up into if they're if they're really good
Speaker 2: after they after they leave high school. So it's creating
Speaker 2: that connection between between the clubs. But then also we're
Speaker 2: hoping we can get some of our players to those
Speaker 2: games this summer. They'll be on summer break, but our
Speaker 2: club has talked about trying to get them there. They
Speaker 2: could potentially be you know, uh on the on the
Speaker 2: touch line, helping with things, and yeah, I think it's
Speaker 2: a great way to connect the youth with the older
Speaker 2: players and and also just just show their families that
Speaker 2: there's there's a you know, there's a there's a soccer positive,
Speaker 2: family friendly activity that they can do during the summertime
Speaker 2: that their kids will probably love to go to. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I think that the connection is great and we've got
Speaker 2: a lot of similarities in our in our missions.
Speaker 1: So Landing for for just me as well up s
Speaker 1: L m P s L.
Speaker 2: Well, we had a team but that folded and out
Speaker 2: of the ashes of that team that was called Ignite.
Speaker 2: Out of the ashes of that team came Lancing Common
Speaker 2: FC and we're part of that team's part of the
Speaker 2: Midwest Premier League. So midst Premier League has been expanding
Speaker 2: a lot written in recent years. And even though we're
Speaker 2: in the center of the of the state here in Lansing,
Speaker 2: that team plays in the Western division of Michigan, and
Speaker 2: Michigan's got a lot of clubs and east and western
Speaker 2: side of the state, and so that club plays teams
Speaker 2: from like Grand Rapids, Holland, some down into northern Indiana.
Speaker 2: And so yeah, that's that's that's a summertime activity for
Speaker 2: a lot of us that love soccer in this area.
Speaker 1: Just two more questions for you. I mean, what are
Speaker 1: some of the things that you guys do at the
Speaker 1: youth level with real Lansing to help get those kids involved.
Speaker 1: What are some of the events you guys do, and
Speaker 1: you know, what are some things you guys are doing
Speaker 1: to help grow the game and teach them then get
Speaker 1: them ready when they want to go play professionally when
Speaker 1: they go on to go to the semi pro team
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 2: Right, So one thing that this team has, that this
Speaker 2: club has that I think may not be immediately apparent,
Speaker 2: is we really focus on the academic side with these
Speaker 2: students as well. As I said, our founder and a
Speaker 2: group of the people involved in the club, our teachers,
Speaker 2: their educators, and so there's a tutoring part of this
Speaker 2: as well, where the kids would be in school and
Speaker 2: then go to tutoring and then come out to play
Speaker 2: soccer on the pitches out there at the school. So
Speaker 2: it's been a great motivator to some of those children
Speaker 2: that they need to do the tutoring, get that done
Speaker 2: before they get to go out and kick the ball around.
Speaker 2: So will love it. Who's part of our board. He's
Speaker 2: really focusing on the tutoring side, and that's obviously something
Speaker 2: where if if they want to succeed and go on
Speaker 2: in their careers playing soccer, they're also going to have
Speaker 2: to have that academic site to be able to get
Speaker 2: into a college or you get a fellowship to be
Speaker 2: able to do that. So or a scholarship to be
Speaker 2: able to do that. So yeah, that's that's part of
Speaker 2: what we're doing. And then we're just working now on
Speaker 2: a sort of soccer curriculum that the coaches will work
Speaker 2: on together so that those kids have a fairly consistent
Speaker 2: development of their of their soccer skills as they you know,
Speaker 2: we started at the U ten and then you know,
Speaker 2: as they progress through, they'll be adding more and more
Speaker 2: skills as they as they advance in the teams.
Speaker 1: My last question for you, Rufus, is there a specific
Speaker 1: moment that comes to your mind when you think of
Speaker 1: real Lansing and a moment that just for you makes
Speaker 1: it all worth it where you know that you guys
Speaker 1: are doing the right thing. I know it's still a
Speaker 1: little early, but is there is there a moment for
Speaker 1: you that sticks out like that.
Speaker 2: There's a lot, but I think one that comes to
Speaker 2: mind is is I was helping to coach a team
Speaker 2: last summer U twelve team and they started off, you know,
Speaker 2: very disorganized. We had, you know, teaching people how to
Speaker 2: do throw ins and you know, got to have the
Speaker 2: got to have those two feet on the ground because
Speaker 2: they hadn't done organized soccer before and you know, hadn't
Speaker 2: hadn't had a referee, hadn't had things you know, timed
Speaker 2: and all those things. So so to see that team
Speaker 2: develop under Aaron Chatfield who was the coach, was was amazing.
Speaker 2: And then to see them get to the point where
Speaker 2: things that they were taught in the midweek training actually
Speaker 2: showed up on the field on Saturday and worked and
Speaker 2: they scored. It was just just amazing to see that
Speaker 2: excitement that they have when when they see it all
Speaker 2: come together, and yeah, they just had a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: And I've got to visit areas around the city that
Speaker 2: maybe they hadn't visited before, So just seeing the teams
Speaker 2: gel and bond together was just great.
Speaker 1: Absolutely Well, Rufus, I just want to say thank you
Speaker 1: so much again for your time. It was amazing getting
Speaker 1: to learn more about Real Lansing FC and what you
Speaker 1: guys are doing over there, because I think it's so important,
Speaker 1: especially with growing the game here in the US with everything,
Speaker 1: it's so important what you guys are doing, and I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to seeing what you guys do in the future.
Speaker 1: I'm going to definitely be following.
Speaker 2: Fantastic. Yeah, we've got the Instagram the Facebook, the X
Speaker 2: We've got a website if you want to learn more
Speaker 2: about the club, so just look for rail Lancing FC
Speaker 2: online and learn more about the club. And if you're interested,
Speaker 2: I have questions, please get in touch.