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A Year After Lansing Ignite Folded, Lansing Common FC To Step In As Community-Run Team

Lansing Common FC logo
Lansing Common FC
Fans chose the name common because it relates to the word community.

Lansing has seen two men’s soccer clubs start and end in the last ten years.

Amateur club, Lansing United, played from 2014 to 2018. Meanwhile, Lansing Ignite, a professional team that was part of the United Soccer League, lasted for just a season and folded last year. 

Now, a group of community organizers want to bring another men’s team back on the field that will be run by its fans.

WKAR’s Sophia Saliby spoke with team president, Eric Walcott, about Lansing Common Football Club.

Interview Highlights

On Where The Idea For The Team Came From

Pretty quickly after Ignite folded last fall, a bunch of us got together who really had met through either Lansing United or Lansing Ignite and the Lansing soccer community and said, ‘We believe that Lansing is a town, a city that will support a soccer team.’

On How The Team Will Be Run

Anyone that's a member is going to get a vote on who serves on the board. So, board members will have their terms, and then they'll be up for election. So, the board will kind of run the day-to-day, but members will get a vote in things like: What is the home jersey look like every year? What is the scarf for the year look like?

On Why He Thinks Lansing Common FC Will Last

Sustainability is one of key goals from the start, and the league that we're joining, the other teams in the league see that sustainability as a foundational element of that. And we're all going to work together as clubs to share kind of that knowledge and best practices of how do we make these teams, you know, things that are in our community for the long-run.

Interview Transcript

Sophia Saliby: This is All Things Considered on WKAR. I’m Sophia Saliby. Lansing has seen two men’s soccer clubs start and end in the last ten years.

Amateur club, Lansing United played from 2014 to 2018. Meanwhile, Lansing Ignite, a professional team that was part of the United Soccer League, lasted for just a season and folded last year.

Now, a group of community organizers want to bring another men’s team back on the field that will be run by its fans. Joining me now is Eric Walcott. He’s the President of Lansing Common Football Club. Thank you for joining me.

Eric Walcott: Thank you for having me on. I'm so happy to be here.

Saliby: So, can you walk me through where this idea of a community-run team came from?

Walcott: So pretty quickly after Ignite folded last fall, a bunch of us got together who really had met through either Lansing United or Lansing Ignite and the Lansing soccer community and said, "We believe that Lansing is a town, a city that will support a soccer team." We saw good, fairly good attendance, you know, one of the better-attended teams. Ignite was one of the better-attended teams in the league. And we wanted there to be a men's soccer team in Lansing. We're all still supporters of Lansing United women's team but felt like that was a gap.

Anyone can be a member of this club. Anyone that's a member can run for the board to be involved in those decisions, and that anyone that's a member gets a say in some of those big, important club decisions as well.

And as we looked at it, we started doing some research into what would it take to actually do this. And we got to a point where we said, "Okay, we can do this, and then if we're going to do this, we need to do this in a way that's accountable to the community." That it’s not just up to one person to make a decision that it didn't fit with their long-term business plan ... and so, it was really important for us from day one, to say this is going to be community-run.

Anyone can be a member of this club. Anyone that's a member can run for the board to be involved in those decisions, and that anyone that's a member gets a say in some of those big, important club decisions as well.

Saliby: Can you explain more of how that will work and where that model comes from of having a volunteer board run a soccer club?

Walcott: Yeah. So, there's a few other clubs, a few other lower-level clubs around the country that do something similar, and anyone that's a member is going to get a vote on who serves on the board. So, board members will have their terms, and then they'll be up for election. So, the board will kind of run the day-to-day, but members will get a vote in things like: What is the home jersey look like every year? What is the scarf for the year look like?

But then also on big things like if the board ever decided, "We want to change the name of the team," or "We want to change leagues or play at a different stadium,” something like that, that would be something that would go out for a vote to all the members.

Saliby: Given the track record of the last two teams, how is this soccer club going to be more sustainable?

Walcott: Yeah, so I think that there's two things. One, sustainability is one of key goals from the start, and the league that we're joining, the other teams in the league see that sustainability as a foundational element of that. And we're all going to work together as clubs to share kind of that knowledge and best practices of how do we make these teams, you know, things that are in our community for the long-run.

The other thing I think is that if it weren't for Lansing Ignite, Lansing United men's team probably would still be around. That team did really well. It got pretty decent attendance. It did really well on the field. I think that was a sustainable model that Jeremy Sampson had going. You know, the opportunity for a pro team came, and so they went with that and then you know, the decision was made after just a year to fold Ignite. So, I think we have some good examples in Lansing and other clubs around the country of how to build in a sustainable way.

Saliby: The team is going to be called Lansing Common FC. Can you tell me more about the name and what it means?

Common building out of out of the word, community, to find the roots of that word, came out and was suggested in a meeting, and everyone really caught on really quick and kind of fell in love with it.

Walcott: So, we did earlier this year, in February and right in the beginning of March, we did a number of community meetings around the Lansing area, engaging people and we, you know, opened those up to anyone who wanted to show up to say, what are the things that you identify with as Lansing? And then in the Lansing area? And what are those characteristics that you can really identify and connect with? And that sense of community and togetherness came across just so clearly.

And so, as we were thinking what might be some words some symbols that would connect with that. “Common," building out of out of the word, community, to find the roots of that word, came out and was suggested in a meeting, and everyone really caught on really quick and kind of fell in love with it.

Saliby: The team will compete as part of the Midwest Premier League starting next year. When are we going to know more about coaches, players and the stadium they'll be playing in?

Walcott: Coaches, we hope to have an announcement on that in the near future. We're in that process. As far as where we're going to play, we hope to be playing at Lansing Eastern's new stadium. We were in conversations with the Lansing Public School District because we want that to be a collaborative relationship.

We don't want to just be a team that rents the stadium, and then goes home when we're done. We want to be an active partner with the school district, and that's one way that we think we can contribute in the community that we represent.

Players, that roster build usually happens early, probably early in 2021. You know, and in the first few months of 2021, we'll start to actually see a roster come together, and then kick off probably mid-May 2021.

Saliby: Eric Walcott is the president of the Lansing Common Football Club. Thank you for joining me. 

Walcott: Thank you so much for having me. I'm glad to be on and have an opportunity to share what we're building and what we hope listeners will join us in building together.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

Sophia Saliby is the local producer and host of All Things Considered, airing 4pm-7pm weekdays on 90.5 FM WKAR.
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