Last year, when FC Tucson head coach/technical director Jon Pearlman heard ticket-selling vet Justin Kirk was available, he moved quickly to enlist him.
Kirk, FC Tucson’s vice president of ticket sales and service, got his MBA from UA’s Eller College of Management and later taught there for years in addition to working for the Wildcats athletic department. During that time he also helped get FC Tucson’s ticketing started and became friends with Pearlman.
So Kirk jumped at the chance to return to Tucson after leaving in 2018 to work for the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football.
“I was here for six years, took an amazing opportunity, moved to San Diego — if you’re going to leave Tucson, San Diego’s OK to go to,” Kirk said.
“Some things didn’t go my way, COVID hit, I was moving around and Jon Pearlman and I have always been really close back when I worked at the U of A and he reached out to me and said there was a new team president here, and they need a new sales leader and wanted to ask if I wanted to move back to the desert and it was one of the quickest yeses I’ve ever given.”
Kirk, who served in the regular Army and the Reserves, has also worked for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, the WNBA’s Chicago Sky and baseball team Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League.
“He helped me understand ticketing and helped me get some interns,” said Pearlman, one of the club’s founders. “We did projects with our interns to improve our own ticketing operations and I’ve learned so much from him.”
Kirk returned to the Old Pueblo to sell tickets to matches like FC Tucson’s (3-7-2) tilt with first-place Greenville Triumph SC (7-4-2) on Sunday at 7 p.m. for Salute Our Troops Night. There will be a fireworks show after.
In the Army, Kirk was an “88 Mike,” a truck driver, and he in charge of logistics and transportation and deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq doing mounted patrols. He was stationed in Balad.
He said the military service helped him understand the importance of empathy and respect.
“At the end of the day, in both occupations, my job is to help people and that’s what I look forward to and enjoy the most,” Kirk said.
Kirk said one of the things that he loves about Tucson is Davis Monthan-Tucson Air Force Base and Tucson’s proximity to Fort Huachuca.
“Oh, I think this is truly a military town and I love it and it’s one of the many reasons why I love Tucson, having that connection to our armed forces is just incredible,” Kirk said. “Of course there’s a fun rivalry between the Army and the Air Force, you know they’re our little brother and it’s fun to poke fun at DM people and the 162nd that is also here and I have a great relationship with a lot of those people and get to have fun with them.”
Corner kicks
Sunday’s fireworks will be shot off from East Sam Lena Drive, so the entrance to that parking lot will be blocked off. The club said the best place to watch them is from the east side bleachers or on the pitch.
Fans will be allowed to go onto the field five minutes after the final whistle with the show starting 20 minutes after.
Supporters can bring blankets and towels to sit on, but chairs will not be allowed on the field. There’s a no re-entry policy, even for the fireworks, so bring your blanket/towel to the match. Concessions will be allowed on the pitch.
