Ron Maierhofer, former national team and pro player, and an old friend still active in our soccer world, has written an arresting tale of his adventure into owning a soccer franchise. Anyone who has ever dreamed of owning a sports franchise, or being involved in managing a pro team, should read and understand Maierhofer’s experiences,or what he calls his "American
Dream."
From 1979-1983, Maierhofer acquired and ran the Denver Avalanche, a professional indoor soccer franchise in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). Maierhofer’s book traces his personal odyssey through obtaining other people’s money for a pro soccer team, outlining, chapter by chapter, his proven strategies for sports’ marketing, making a game plan, enticing investors, and leaping legal hurdles along the way. Maierhofer offers the reader detailed insights into how a pro soccer franchise works, including staffing, marketing, obtaining players, and playing the game! He discusses the arcane topic of obtaining media coverage for pro soccer, with personal anecdotes that make the book come alive for the reader!
Maierhofer eventually loses the Denver Avalanche franchise in 1983, going into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and marking the end of his dream. But in conveying his personal journey through this informative soccer book, Maierhofer keeps the dream alive for others with a similar bent to own a soccer team, showing the rewards of contributing to our sport but also the pitfalls when soccer people become entrepreneurs. Maierhofer’s story, so graphically written for us, reminds me of that old soccer saying, "We didn’t lose, we just ran out of time while being a goal down!"
Maierhofer remains in youth soccer through his firm, Sports Club Management, a national company providing soccer enrichment and online learning programs to young children under the name "KinderKickIt." Mairehofer’s three sons have picked up the torch and continue their father’s dream!
--by Len Oliver, Director of Coaching, DC Stoddert Soccer
posted 12/15/09
