Stoppage Time Special: The Magic of Community Through Soccer

In this special Stoppage Time edition of The Pitch to Pro Podcast, we revisit one of the most heartfelt and powerful moments from a past episode—an honest reflection on the indescribable magic of Northwest Arkansas and the unifying spirit of soccer.

You’ll hear a behind-the-scenes glimpse from Mayor Greg Hines into the intentional process of building a professional club that’s not just about wins and business metrics, but about people, place, and purpose. From grassroots beginnings to the visionary impact of Ozark United FC, this conversation touches on everything from Ted Lasso to community identity and what happens when a sport becomes a shared cause.

Whether you're a longtime local, a recent transplant, or just someone who believes in the power of connection, this short but moving segment captures why the beautiful game means so much more off the field.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
welcome to the stoppage time edition of the
pitch to pro podcast.
This is a highlight reel ofsome of the best moments from
the show so far, and every otherweek we will be bringing you a
special five to seven minutesegment featuring the best
stories, tales and moments ofthe podcast well, I'm glad you
find it as hard to describe as Idid, because I thought maybe it
was just me, um, but but that's, that's kind of uh, it's good

(00:27):
to know.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Actually it's comforting, I guess, to know
that, that, um, it is justsomething special that's hard to
put into words and and whetheryou grew up here or you
transported here and you boughtinto it, it's still hard to
figure out what it is.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
It's a feeling.
Yeah, it is, it's.
It's a magical feeling too, umto to be embraced and welcomed
um, you know, by and large, byby the general populace.
So um in in a way that is justso above and beyond, um being
kind to your neighbor and Ithink that's kind of what y'all
embody also.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
I mean, if you look at the organization, you look at
the sort of the mission vision,not not legal, you know it's
league wide.
But even more specific to thisfootprint here is is the
intentionality of just acommunity of it.
It's it's.
It's a professional sport.
It's a huge deal, it's excitingto so I mean, it's as exciting

(01:23):
to as many adults as it ischildren.
But I mean, you just lookacross the spectrum, um, and I
didn't play soccer.
It just wasn't a sport that waswidely played here.
It is now, of course, and I'vewatched it, you know, watched it
expand and it developed my ownsense of you, know what it, what
it means to be a fan.
Of course, you know, ted Lassoprobably helped all of us
understand on a much biggerlevel, what, what soccer and how

(01:46):
nuts it is um at the fan basebut um, but I, but I think
that's one of the things thatI've really appreciated through
throughout this process um,trying to get off the ground is
it's just that, that it's it's.
It's a business, it's a businessright, and you're not running a
non-profit, but at the same,there seems to be as much

(02:06):
excitement and thought, realthought, put into how are we a
part of the community as much ascan we raise the capital, can
this work?
I'm hearing and what I'veobserved from you know, kind of
your, your team, is that theyknow it doesn't matter if the,
if, the, if it pencils out,that's great, but if you're not

(02:29):
part of the community, it's notgoing to be sustainable.
And so I, you know, I justthink that's a, I think that's a
, really, it's a testament to,to, I think probably what for me
looks like this, this wholepackage management team, this,
this kind of holistic approach,that that's what success usually

(02:50):
is bred out of.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, no, and thank you, it has been very
intentional.
Yes, look, listen, at the endof the day, we are a business
and we need to be such, tocontinue and make sure that we
have this incredible offering tobring and be a part of the
community.
But we are not successfulwithout the support of the

(03:13):
community.
And how do you?
You know, and not just supportfrom the community, but it's
also about that's the what, butit's also about the how.
About that's the what, but it'salso about the how and being,
as you've seen, very intentionalalong the way we continue to
hit on it is this is not ourclub.

(03:33):
Everybody wants to know what thename is going to be.
That's probably what's the namegoing to be.
What's the name going to be,what's the crest, what's the
colors?
And we've been very intentionalabout making sure that we get
so much feedback so that we feelgood about when we're asked why
is the name this, why is thecolor this, why is the crest
this?
We can point back to ourprocess, which has been

(03:56):
involving the community atmultiple stages, across multiple
mediums, at different times,and truly trying to capture the
voice of the different pocketsand sectors of our community,
across multiple backgrounds andpeoples and that takes time,
yeah, and to sift through it.

(04:17):
What do people really mean?
What do they want?
Why do they love NWA?
And I think we touched about alittle bit about why you and I
love Northwest Arkansas.
It's that magic that we feel,that spirit about living here,
along with many other things,but that is, to your point, very
, very intentional and it'swe're really.

(04:39):
I'm a big soccer guys.
I played soccer nerdself-professed.
Ted Lassa does a really nice job, by the way, so don't ever feel
bad about bringing him up andhow much you loved it because it
was, or you know if you didn'tbut, it that that show actually
it's crazy because people jokeabout like, oh, I'm just a ted

(04:59):
lasso soccer fan that show didsuch an incredible job of not
just the drama and the actionand like the great writing and
show, but of of showing whatsoccer culture is and the highs
and lows of kind of, you know,promotion and relegation, which
is a whole other conversationabout moving up and down.
It's kind of foreign to americansports but, um, it did a really

(05:21):
great job of understanding whatsoccer culture is and
grassroots in that small pocketcommunity, right, and that's
what we're trying to bring hereand so we're so excited about
and and what gets us up in themorning at least you know our,
our team today is impact that wecan have off the field yeah,
that's.
And and the relationships thatwe can build with our

(05:43):
communities off the field.
I love and I'm so excited aboutpeople being passionate and
excited about what's going tohappen in the games and the
matches and coming to the gamesand the chance and all those
things.
Being season ticket holders, weneed those things, we want
those things.
Just know that it's, that's the, the meat of of what.

(06:04):
Why, why is it exciting to dowhat you do us, or or Warren or
Chris, and it's the power andimpact of sport off the field
and how we can help unify,uplift and propel our community,
and that's what we're hopefullygoing to be able to do.

Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yeah, and I think soccer, soccer, uniquely above
any other sport, really puts youin a place to have a
conversation where it's a wholecommunity coming together to
support the team or to supportcause.
Um, and and and.
There's just few.

(06:44):
There's just few otheropportunities that I, that I've
been exposed to that sort of,from a broader perspective,
bring everybody together in acommon cause.
And, god knows, in theenvironment we live in today,
regardless where you fall on thepolitical lines or religious

(07:06):
lines or any of those things,there's just not a lot that
we're all agreeing on and andand and coalescing towards.
We can't even agree and coalescetowards.
You know peace around the worldand what that looks like.
So you know, without taking itto that level, I'm this there's
just few opportunities for foryou know the someone in the
C-suite at Tyson, you know Tyson, to meet up with someone that

(07:30):
just started at their processingplant on Old Ridge Street and
sit in proximity to one anotherand holler and scream and
coalesce behind a team, and thenhow that translates off the
field is that the exposure toand invitation to participate in
community-driven events, um,and the passion to do that, may

(07:54):
only be the hook to the teambecause you feel obligated, you
feel like you owe your team, youknow to, to get involved
outside of and, and so whateverbrings those people together and
creates those conversations um,you know it, it really matters
Not what started it, it's theproduct that that she ended up

(08:15):
with at the end of the day.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
Thank you for joining us for this stoppage time
special of the pitch to propodcast.
If you've enjoyed theconversation, you can click
watch the full episode here.
Be sure to tune in nextThursday for a new episode of
the Pitch to Pro podcast, theofficial podcast of Ozark United
FC, available on YouTube,instagram and everywhere you get
your podcasts.