UNITED SOCCER COACHES
GEOFF VANDEUSEN
Having an extensive background in soccer coaching, Geoff VanDeusen has connected, and transferred, many of the skills from coaching, into his career as a professional large-scale event planner.
Geoff serves as the Director of Operations and Events for United Soccer Coaches in Kansas City, Missouri.
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United Soccer Coaches offers an extensive variety of resources and guidance to soccer coaches and teams every year, but their biggest project is the hosting of their annual convention.
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This 4-day long event attracts over
14,000 attendees from all over
the country each year.
It can be assumed that an event of this size can be quite intimidating, but Geoff has learned methods of managing his stress and delegating tasks to make each convention a successful one.
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In fact, since Geoff has taken his current position within the association, the convention as seen successful growth in attendance.
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"I view myself as the head coach for this event." says VanDeusen. "I have to find my assistant coaches, people I can trust who can make decisions in my place."
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Geoff states that much of the success of his team depends of their ability to delegate tasks, to trust each other and own the role their in. Being able to provide resources and information to more coaches each year, helping them be successful and influence players is their main goal.
"If I provide the right direction to the assistant coaches (event planners), or at least everything they think they need and give them parameters to be successful, I have done my job. Then I can go and be the assistant on site."
