El Paso USL has announced a significant personnel decision, as it has named Andrew Forrest its General Manager, Business Operations. El Paso is slated to play its inaugural USL season in 2019.

“Andrew’s accomplishments in professional soccer team business management and his extensive experience in sales and operations will drive an effective organization for El Paso USL,” said Alan Ledford, President of MountainStar Sports Group. “We are excited to have Andrew join our organization as we prepare for the inaugural season of professional soccer in El Paso in March of 2019.”

Forrest comes to El Paso from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he was most recently employed as General Manager for Learfield Sports. Prior to that, he worked for the San Antonio Scorpions Professional Soccer Team as Director of Sponsorship and then as Vice President and Assistant General Manager. He held previous positions with Playbook Management International, as Senior Account Executive with the San Antonio Scorpions and as Consultant with FC Edmonton and in the cities of Baltimore and Dallas. Mr. Forrest is a graduate of Roanoke College (Salem, Virginia) and he earned an M.S. in Kinesiology – Sport Leadership from James Madison University (Harrisonburg, Virginia).

“With the help of Marquee Search, we conducted outreach nationwide to fill this critical position for El Paso USL,” added Ledford. “We believe Andrew’s experience and background make him an excellent choice to get our organization up and running.”

Forrest joins Sarah Nollner, Manager of Business Operations, who was the first hire for MountainStar Sports Group’s USL operation earlier this year. She joined El Paso USL from Major League Soccer/Soccer United Marketing in New York City where she was the Marketing and Media Consultant for the Mexican National Team, Copa America Centenario, and Gold Cup. Prior to that, she worked with Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles in US Business Operations. Nollner is a graduate of University of Kentucky and earned her MBA in Sports at San Diego State University.

The El Paso USL staff also includes Ryan Schmitz, Sales and Service Representative. Schmitz came to El Paso from Boulder, Colorado, where he worked in sales for Xfinity and Assurance Wireless. Before that, he was employed by baseball’s Reno Aces (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) and Reno 1868 (USL) as Communications Coordinator. Schmitz held previous public relations positions with the University of Florida Athletic Association, the Seattle Mariners and the Denver Broncos. Schmitz is a graduate of the University of Missouri.

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