Wednesday September 5th, we sat down with Houston Dash head coach Randy Waldrum and Managing Director Brian Ching immediately following the Dash internal end of season meeting. We talked about a host of issues including the pair’s transition into new roles, the 2014 season and we discussed 2015.

This is the final piece in the series, a look back at Brian Ching’s first year as Managing Director of the Houston Dash. The 2014 review Part 1 can be found here and Part II here. A look forward to 2015 can be found here.

Just over one year has passed since Brian Ching’s final competitive MLS match, a ten minute appearance as a substitute on September 8th, 2013. The run up to his retirement from professional soccer culminated on December 13th, 2013 when the Dynamo organization and fans celebrated the man and the player in a Testimonial Match.

that’s part of my challenge, that’s part of the passion that I have developed over this past year is the fact that I feel like we weren’t as successful as we could have been and that’s something that really bothers me and something that I am really motivated to rectify next year.

Ten days later, Ching officially went from playing field to front office when he was named the first ever Managing Director of the Houston Dash and tasked with getting the NWSL franchise team off the ground.

An already challenging task was made that much more so by virtue of the fact that Ching had less than three months to build a roster in a league that he did not know well, all the while making the transition from the the locker room and a life he had always known, to the more unfamiliar surroundings of an office.

“This year has been very challenging, personally and professionally. I guess I look at it as a complete learning experience and I went into it kind of thinking that it was going to be that, but you never really know how things are going to turn out. I thought I was really prepared for life after soccer and made sure I had the right job, a job that I thought I would be interested in and so I dealt with a lot of that, the ending of soccer,” says Ching in reflecting over the past year.

“For me, I look at the season and the way I approach things; I think I did a good job on one side but I also think that I could have done better and I think that is how I have approached things my entire life and it’s made me successful.”

In the sporting world, professional athletes retiring and immediately going into the coaching ranks as assistants or positional coaches is common. In recent years, the number of players even going directly from the pitch to being head coach of teams has increased (Ryan Nelsen at Toronto FC, for example).

The adjustment from playing to coaching has its challenges, but generally speaking is relatively smooth (head coach positions excepted) as players have the opportunity to observe and learn from their own coaches throughout their career. Moreover, for players who are likely to go on to become coaches, that transition typically begins before their playing careers are over by virtue of their leadership and coaching younger players on the training ground.

The transition from playing field to front office is something altogether different, however. Skills that are learned in the corporate world over a number of years must be picked up nearly overnight in order to be effective. Roles and responsibilities are not as obvious or familiar. Throw in a transition from the men’s game over to the women’s, where a career worth of player and league knowledge becomes irrelevant, and the enormity of the transition becomes apparent.

Brian Ching with Chris Canetti Credit: Nigel Brooks

“In the beginning it was difficult to kind of find my way; exactly what I was doing, where I could help out, learning a new league at the same time learning about – I wouldn’t say the soccer business, but the women’s soccer business: learning the different types of players and where players are coming from, what other leagues are around the world, how to get players, how to deal with visas, how to deal with sponsorships, how to deal with everything to be honest,” says Ching.

“Learning how to deal with time management – how to get things done at the end of the day – learning how to deal with emails and talking to GMs and other coaches. It was a whirlwind and I am still on a little bit of it. In the beginning, I had to find my passion for it because you know when you’ve only known one thing for your entire life and you kind of jump over to something else, there are a lot of different challenges that go with that. That’s why I still look at it as, I think I’ve learned a lot and a tremendous amount about a new league, about managing people, about managing a team and about the business side of soccer.”

That is not to suggest that Ching was flown out to the middle of the ocean and left to sink or swim. He had a strong support network within the Houston Dynamo and highly experienced individuals to work with and learn from. “I’ve been blessed with a guy in Chris [Canetti], who is one of the best Presidents in MLS, to kind of talk to and bounce ideas off of and learn from, and another great mind in soccer in Randy [Waldrum] in the women’s game.”

Even with the support, however, building an NWSL team and a fan base was something that nobody in the organization really had experience with. Attendance, in particular, was an issue that the Dash struggled with all season long. While the inaugural match was tremendously successful, a steady decline over the remainder of the season came as a disappointment.

Ching freely admits that the organization has evolved in it’s understanding of who its ideal target market is and in how to build a local following for the team and attract fans to the games, “It was a learning experience not only for me but also for our organization as far as a women’s professional sports franchise. I don’t think any of us really knew exactly how to make it successful off the bat.

“There were a lot of things we tried, a lot of things that we did not try. I thought we might have relied too heavily on the fact that Dynamo supporters would come out. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of them did but we definitely have more ideas; bigger and better ideas for getting people into the stands”

Ching points to the brief amount of time that the Dash had to prepare for the season as a contributing factor, “I think the fact that things happened so quickly from December to January meant we weren’t really able to plan a lot out for all the different kinds of games. We realized we really need to have a group of Dash focused employees in the Dynamo office and we established that but we established it a little bit too late in the sense that we were trying to do promotions and promote games a week or two in advance and that is a recipe for not being successful.”

Coming to grips with how to attract fans was not the only unexpected challenge Ching faced, “There’s things that we never realized we were going to have to deal with going into it. A big part of that in the beginning, we spent a lot of our time just trying to find housing for players. First we had to get the team and then once we had the team we’re like, okay where are they all going to stay?”

The 2015 season should be an entirely different situation. With a year of learning and experience under his belt and an organization developed specifically around the Dash rather than a Dynamo staff that is also supporting the Dash, Ching expects the organization will be much more focused, “The fact that we have 6 months to prepare where we are not trying to learn the season, learn what draft order we are, lobbying to try to get the best American players back and having to do all that while we’re still planning for a season and finding housing and different things like that.”

One thing that is unlikely to change is Ching’s involvement on the training field. Around the midway point of the 2014 season, Ching began to pull double duty by helping Waldrum in training the team. Ching explains how that role originated, “Part of that was part of the learning process for me, what parts of the job do I enjoy, where can I help out the most. That developed for me throughout the season.

Brian Ching on the training ground. Credit: Hal Kaiser

“The first part of the year I was kind of coming in the office and I was, to be kind of honest with you, a little bit depressed. So, I realized that I enjoy going out there and I have a lot to offer and I think next year I’ll probably sit down with Randy a little more often how I can help him help the team and help players get better. How we can do things better.”

Despite the enjoyment he derives from getting out on the training grounds, Ching doesn’t plan on leaving the front office to become a full-time coach anytime soon. Asked whether he sees himself in the front office or on a coaching staff ten years from now, Ching responded, “To be honest I hope it is a mix. I enjoy being out in the field, but I also enjoy not having to travel on the weekends in the sense that I’m 36, I want to start a family.

“Selfish reasons I guess, but I think eventually maybe 10 years down the road if I have a kid that’s grown up, that might change a little bit but at this point I see the business side, I see the challenges in putting butts in seats for the women and making the Dash a profitable organization on that side. Those challenges are kind of what motiviates me but I still like to be out and get to run around and help. To be honest, I think that is where a lot of my history has been and my knowledge is and to just not help out in that way would be kind of a waste I would say. So, you know I like the mix of both sides and I really found that out, it’s one of the things I’ve learned this year about myself.”

In the meantime, Ching sums up his first year as managing director and his go forward focus like this, “For us, as an organization we look at it and we say that we have to do better. We’re not going to go out there and make excuses. I’ll be the first one to say I could have done more to make them more successful and that’s part of my challenge, that’s part of the passion that I have developed over this past year is the fact that I feel like we weren’t as successful as we could have been and that’s something that really bothers me and something that I am really motivated to rectify next year.

“I can definitely promise that next year is going to be a lot easier a lot smoother and a lot better from myself as far as managing the team and bringing in players and knowing more about the league and making the Dash more successful on and off the field.”

Brian Ching has known success throughout his entire career; three MLS Cup Championships, an MLS Cup MVP award, an MLS Golden Boot award, six times as an MLS All Star, 45 national team CAPs and 11 international goals speak to that. Bet against him turning the Dash into a model NWSL franchise at your own peril.

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