FCGP GM Ilisa Kessler on Marta acquisition:
“This is tremendous for us”

Reigning FIFA World Player of the Year Marta will take the field for FC Gold Pride this season, providing what team general manager Ilisa Kessler calls “a tremendous opportunity.” Photo: John Todd, isiphotos.com

It’s been a remarkable 10 days for FC Gold Pride general manager Ilisa Kessler. At the beginning of last week, she learned that the Los Angeles Sol, a star-filled side that had the best regular-season record in Women’s Professional Soccer in 2009, would be disbanded after a group of potential investors pulled out at the last minute. The Sol’s departure was publicly announced last Thursday, along with league plans to distribute that team’s players via a dispersal draft, with FC Gold Pride taking the third pick.

Over the course of the next week, what started as a tentative interest in Marta, the four-time reigning FIFA World Player of the Year, turned into a firm resolve to add the Brazilian to the Bay Area side. This morning, that goal was achieved. Center Line Soccer caught up with Kessler this afternoon, shortly after the end of the draft.

CLS: Congratulations! This seems like a milestone.

Ilisa Kessler: It’s a good day for the franchise — I think we’re really looking forward to it. What Marta can bring to this franchise, I think it’s just going to help us grow to where we want to be, which is to have years and years of success, and I think this is a great way to start that.

I’m looking forward, too, on the sponsorship side, to see what types of businesses want to align with our franchise now that the team is completely assembled going into 2010 and, obviously, with Marta. She’s a big draw. My goal, really, is a front-of-jersey sponsor.

CLS: How did this whole process unfold for you? It certainly wasn’t in your plans a month ago.

IK: I think the biggest thing is (team owners) Brian and Nancy (NeSmith), (head coach) Albertin (Montoya) and I — we’re very competitive people. We’re competitive in business and we’re competitive with the product we put on the field, and none of us were satisfied with our results last year, both on and off the field. We think somebody like Marta gives a spark that will help us make the change that we need. I mean, we already were assembling a team, prior to the whole LA situation, with an opportunity to win a championship, and that’s our goal. We’re not looking short of that.

And on the business side, we’re looking for a really solid path of growth, and in order to do that, we’re making changes with the field. Now that the capacity is smaller, we’re hoping Marta will be the tipping point for those sold out games we want, and that we can create a huge demand for our product. I think that will help us with the franchise for years, not just this year. With her, it’s going to help us reach that goal.

JH: It certainly seems like you have the opportunity to capture the imagination of soccer fans in the Bay Area.

IK: I love it when you say that because it’s true. I had watched Marta on television and seen what she could do, but until you see her live, until you see her in person, it’s very hard to understand how remarkable a player she is, and how beautiful of a game she plays. People are just going to be drawn to that, and are going to want to see her play live. And it’s not just her — we are surrounding her with an amazingly talented team. I think we’re going to find a lot of stars out there that Marta will complement and that will complement Marta. Having Marta and (Camille) Abily back together I think is a real bonus for us — they did some amazing things last season and we’re looking forward to that connection on the pitch this year, too.

I just think this is tremendous for us, a tremendous opportunity for our franchise.

CLS: You were already putting together a strong team.

IK: Marta wasn’t even part of the picture. L.A. was — we were putting together a team to compete against a team like L.A., and now, for us, this is just a bonus.

Look for the Center Line Soccer interview with FC Gold Pride head coach Albertin Montoya in this week’s CLS podcast, to be released tomorrow.