What is the Ambassadors Football Club program and what is your role with your team?
In 1990, Ambassadors Football began as Ambassadors In Sport (AIS) in Bolton, England. They continued as AIS until the current name was adopted in 2013. The ministry was founded by a group called Missionary Athletes International focused from the beginning to partner with churches and Christian organizations to develop grass roots football ministry.

To this day the work continues on through football camps, clinics, prison ministry, school ministry, men’s and women’s teams, international tours and major event ministries at the World Cup and Olympics Games. Ambassadors Football now has offices in 26 countries around the world and through diligent prayer, calling, and research continues to expand each year according to the Lord’s will.

Mission: To communicate the good news of Jesus to all people through football.
Vision: To see football ministry throughout every country and culture.
Values:
Church: We uphold the long-term, transformative role of the Church in the world.
Team: We identify and collaborate with others in the pursuit of shared goals.
Innovation: We seek to develop ministry that engages the culture.
Servant Heart: We follow the example of Jesus by leading through service.

Our youth club teams based out of the United States and northeastern Ohio have been highly successful both on the field, as well as serving the community through inner-city soccer ministries. Following the elongated success of our Women’s Premier Soccer League franchise, Ambassadors Football has taken the step to place franchise teams in the Northern Ohio Soccer League for 2021 and beyond.

I am the General Manager & Head Coach of the AFC Ohio franchise.

We recruited our players exclusively from regional NCAA collegiate programs, and especially focused on Ambassadors youth club veterans, and players from clubs in the northeast Ohio area that we were familiar with. Once the recruitment process started, it became a bit contagious and many players who were looking for a "professional-like" training and competitive environment for their off-seasons got in contact with us. Our numbers have been great and we look to see them grow in the future.

What league(s) do you play in? Is that where you see yourself staying or are you always evaluating the best place to compete?
We are currently competing in the Northern Ohio Soccer League (NOSL) which has been a perfect match for us to get started on the next-level amateur men's side. Right now, we are committed to keeping a presence in the NOSL for sure. They have done an outstanding job from the ground up growing a league, a brand for themselves, and being really flexible. We will continue to evaluate our league placement and may look to expand and place additional teams at a variety of levels as we grow and move forward.

Not all clubs are built the same. Some teams sell kits and scarves, while some teams are dependent on sponsors; what's your funding model?
Our club is currently operating on a combination of sponsorships and self-pay. Nearly all of our operating expenses in this first year have been graciously covered by sponsors, partners, and friends of the club. We made a true commitment to offer our partners as much exposure through the Eleven live streaming platform and have diligently broadcasted all of our matches. As of today, we have well over 3,300 views of our matches and feel like we continue to deliver for our partners. We would like to see partners engage more by creating "touch points" for their own businesses in partnership with us at matches and at other events that we can collaboratively work to create.

Additionally, our commitment goes beyond that in that we will put all excess funds from our partners and sponsors directly back into our local and worldwide football ministry programs. This will continue to be our most vital contribution to the soccer community by actively serving the Lord through our football mission.

How did Covid impact your organization last year and what does success in 2021 look like?
We were incredibly blessed as we were able to train our youth teams from June, 2020 right up until now by following COVID protocols as outlined by the Ohio Dept. of Health, as well as the blessing of having our own indoor training facility in which we managed those protocols very closely. The reality is that COVID had little impact on our AFC Ohio franchise in the NOSL other than fueling the need and desire of college players to get back to a training and competitive environment since many of them missed or had very shortened seasons during the 2020-21 academic year.

As a club and franchise, we will continue to operate within state guidelines and pray that we are able to maintain and grow our programs.

Is there something important about your club that I might have missed? Tell me.
Not all of our players are Christian believers. Our teams are open to all who are willing to be a part of an organization that unapologetically chooses to witness to its participants, supporters, and families about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his living influence in our lives. My role is keep opening the door for faith exploration in our young men and pray that they will make a choice to walk through that door and into a life of connection with God, faith, and grace.

One of our more immediate goals is to look to partner with our local mission-aligned supporters (Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, Malone University, the United Methodist Church of Kent, and other churches and mission-aligned sports organizations) to host a Missions Benefit Tournament in 2021. We have heard from a number of Christ-centered football organizations that would like to join us for such an event. We would appreciate any help in developing such a process and event, and would welcome any interest from organizations around the country to participate.

Our reality is based on a pretty simple principle when it comes to the soccer side of things...we are not going to "chase the wind" and try to be something that we are not. We are not in a hurry to expand, to keep up with the "elite" clubs that are growing franchise brands, and live beyond our means. We will continue to focus on what is most vital to us...providing a great atmosphere for our college-age players to grow as players, people, and provide an opportunity for them to experience faith and the Gospel through football.

Check out Ambassadors Ohio on Twitter HERE