Sky's the limit
Sometimes, when our dream at last comes knocking, we have to ask questions and make sure it's practical.
Sometimes, when our dream at last comes knocking, we have to ask questions and make sure it’s practical. That’s how it was with Middletown resident and longtime soccer fanatic Gerry Marrone when Sky Blue FC, New Jersey’s new professional women’s soccer team, asked him to come aboard as its new vice president of sales and marketing.
"This was a start-up, with all the risk involved in that, and I had one kid in college and another about to go to college," he says. "But my wife and I agreed I might never get another opportunity to combine my business and my passion, so I took it." Today he’s glad he decided to join the game, and he’s in it to win.
Marrone, 47, grew up in South Amboy and started playing soccer on his high school team. He truly fell in love with the sport in 1978 when he attended the Pele Soccer Camp at Trenton State College. Pele, perhaps soccer’s greatest player ever and one of the most popular athletes in the world, captivated Marrone. "He hung out with us, just a cool guy with an infectious personality who really loved the game. That’s when I became a fullfledged soccer enthusiast."
Marrone was an all-star in high school and played as a freshman in college. But by the time he graduated in 1985 he had left the game behind, and he soon went on to an unrelated career in sales and marketing. Soccer didn’t come back into his life until after he and his wife, Karen, had the first of their three children. His old high school coach asked him to help coach in the town’s youth soccer program, and for the next two decades he juggled his business life and his volunteer commitment to the sport, coaching and helping to run various teams and leagues.
It’s not that he didn’t think about someday linking his work with his favorite sport. In 2007, he bought a franchise in a company called Soccer Shots, which teaches soccer to kids in day-care centers and nursery schools. And around the same time, he learned about the new Women’s Professional Soccer league and its Somersetbased Sky Blue FC team.
"I thought maybe we could benefit from some cooperative marketing, so I arranged a meeting," Marrone says. But after a lengthy discussion about soccer and business, the owners thought they had a better idea. That’s when they popped the question about the VP post. Satisfied that his new position would provide for his family-and wouldn’t suddenly disappear-Marrone threw himself into his new sales and marketing duties.
Three months later, the team’s general manager/ coach was discharged, and Marrone was offered the general manager post. This time there was no hesitation.
"The team needed sound, general business leadership, and that’s one of the things I’m good at," he says. "Never before has a title so fit a job," he quips about his role as GM.
"I’m in charge of pretty much everything- the front office, sales, marketing, tickets, the coaches and players … it all runs through my office."
He also seeks sponsorships with local institutions-for example, he’s developed one with Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, which provides the team with medical care and rehabilitation assistance, injury-prevention clinics and other health services through its Sports Medicine Institute.
Marrone relishes the challenges of his new career. "I am not afraid of change," he says, feeling vindicated in his decision to seize an opportunity-especially since the team recently won the championship. "I’ve changed industries and careers; having the chance to learn motivates me." And the fact that his new role is a dream come true? That’s just gravy.
