One of the very enjoyable things about working for the Dynamo over the past 18 months has been the opportunity to talk to a variety of groups here in the Houston area about the team, its arrival in Houston, the success that we have enjoyed and also about the larger topic of the growth of the game of soccer in the Houston area at both the professional and amateur level.
I have spoken to a multitude of organizations over the past year and a half, ranging from the charity golf awards dinner of the Aga Khan Foundation to the Pasadena Rotary Club to the Mayde Creek High School spring sports banquet. In fact, there was one day this past January in which I was booked for speeches morning, noon and night: first a Kiwanis breakfast club in the Galleria area, then the North Shore Rotary, topped off by the keynote address at the Morton Ranch High School Booster Club meeting.
As a speaker you learn that every group is a little different and that it is important to tailor a speech in terms of length, content and delivery to the audience. Nonetheless, I am continually amazed that all these groups have something in common, which is that there is inevitably a couple of diehard soccer fans associated with all of these groups. Whether it is a "traditional soccer mom or dad" who has spent hours schlepping kids around the region to various tournaments, or someone who played college soccer in the '70s or perhaps a native European or South/Central American who grew up playing the game and now resides in Houston, there always seems to be a direct connection to the sport in every civic group.
Of course, I am not the only member of the Dynamo family who is out in the community spreading the word of our sport. Dominic Kinnear has spoken to a number of groups since his arrival in Houston in January of 2006, including the Houston Bar Association Young Lawyers leadership group as well as the Elkins High School soccer awards banquet. To a lesser degree some of the players are on the speaking circuit as well, although they are limited in their opportunities because of practice times. Wade Barrett, team captain, joined me on the podium at the Webster Business Alliance luncheon earlier this year and Pat Onstad was recently the featured speaker to a large group of educators assembled at Montgomery Community College in the Woodlands. Suffice it to say that the entire Dynamo family is not shy about getting up in front of a crowd with microphone in hand to talk about the growth of the team, the league and the sport.
The value to Dynamo of these opportunities is self-evident. It allows us a chance to win over skeptical sports fans. You know the type: the died-in-the-wool baseball or football fan who dismisses soccer as a game "in which nothing happens and there is no scoring." Or the basketball fan who "doesn't understand enough of the game to appreciate it." We have all run across folks like this, and to be honest there are thousands upon thousands of them in our area. Over the past 18 months the Dynamo family has been diligent in doing its "missionary work" to expose people to the beautiful game.
Which brings me to my point, gentle reader. If you belong to a civic organization like a Chamber of Commerce or a professional organization like the Petroleum Engineers Association of Houston and you need a speaker, think Orange. Feel free to contact our office and request a speaker from the Dynamo organization. We will do our level best to comply with the request and make an entertaining and informative presentation that all members of the organization will enjoy. Don't be shy, call us and give Dynamo a chance to win over a few more skeptical sports fans.
