Amanda Powers felt a strong connection to Tucson long before she ever moved here.
Powers’ mother lived in Tucson for three months in 1973, working on a recall campaign alongside labor and civil rights activists Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. She went door to door, collecting signatures to assist in the teamsters’ efforts.
“I feel as though we’re almost doing similar work, but for a different cause,” Powers, FC Tucson’s new club president, told the Star Thursday. “I’m having to knock on doors right now and say, ‘I need you to trust us this year. We’re going to deliver.’”
A San Diego native, self-professed sports fan and corporate dropout, Powers comes to FC Tucson roughly two years after she signed on as chief operating officer for New Mexico United, a United Soccer League Championship team based in Albuquerque. During its first year, New Mexico United led the league in ticket and merchandise sales while qualifying for the playoffs.
While Powers is new to Tucson, coming here for the first time over Thanksgiving and moving here earlier this month, she’s no stranger to Arizona: She frequently visited her grandmother in Yuma as a child, but never expected to travel any further east into the state.
But after living in New Mexico for 12 years, Powers said she’s prepared for life in another border town. She’s already been enjoying the food, and says she’s spoken more Spanish since her arrival than she did during her entire tenure in New Mexico.
“I’m pumped,” Powers said. “(Tucson’s) got that nice college town vibe, the food, the music scene.”
Powers grew up in ethnically diverse areas of San Diego, including City Heights and Clairemont Mesa, and was involved in a variety of sports, including water polo, softball, swimming and cross country. In 2000, she was named an NCAA All-American swimmer at Drury University, after which she spent a few years working as a swim coach at her former high school in San Diego.
She moved to the Bay Area in 2005 to attend Sonoma State, where she earned a degree in international business.
New FC Tucson president Amanda Powers, January 23, 2020 Tucson, Ariz.
“I think as you get older and you have certain aspirations for the kind of job you want to have and the kind of impact you want to make in the community, you can have a far bigger impact in cities in Tucson, Albuquerque and Tulsa,” Powers said. “Because there’s just a lot more need for change and need for hope and need for something that kind of feels like a big city.”
After graduating, Powers moved to Albuquerque, where she received a project management certificate from the University of New Mexico and started a business, working in economic development for various causes.
She took a meeting with Ron Patel, former associate who was also president of Albuquerque’s PDL team, the Sol. Patel had the idea of bringing professional soccer to the city and building a stadium downtown.
“I believed in his vision,” Powers said, referencing how her hometown Padres helped revitalize the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego. “I really understand what sports can do for a community when there’s a beloved team there.”
Powers bought in, completing a pro bono market analysis on her friend’s idea. An advisory counsel was formed and when all was done, the city asked Powers to complete a deeper study. She didn’t hear from anyone at first, and moved onto consulting with teams throughout the league.
“I started studying different markets where it was very successful — Louisville, Sacramento, cities like Tucson that have really good things going on but maybe aren’t quite up there with Seattle,” Powers said. “These are places that may be blue collar but have some good things happening and want to feel a sense of pride. Soccer did that for these communities.”
Powers says soccer can be a window into the rest of the world, and that fans gain a better understanding of other cultures through the sport.
In January 2018, an investor called Powers, saying he’d bought a USL franchise and wanted her to help make it happen in Albuquerque.
“They had no business plan or anything like that,” Powers said. “So I shut my business down and helped to co-found New Mexico United.”
In May, Powers signed a contract to become the COO of FC Tulsa as the club went through a major re-branding. She was working for the Oklahoma team when she got the call about the opportunity in Tucson.
“What I’m trying to do on a very grassroots level is understand our community, understand our heritage and understand what is missing in this community that the club can serve as a unifying symbol,” Powers said. “The time is right right now for Tucsonans to rally around something that they can feel a lot of pride for.”
In order to do that, Powers said, FC Tucson is going to have to invest in a winning team.
The budget for players’ salaries has been increased by $30,000. FC Tucson’s parent club, Phoenix Rising FC, has brought in new talent to the coaching and front office staffs.
“We’re also going to offer an extremely affordable ticket and break down barriers to access,” Powers said.
The club’s focus this year is players, community and entertainment, with the idea of developing a winning team, highlighting players to the community and creating a great game-day experience. Powers plans to tap into Tucson’s UNESCO City of Gastronomy status to bring new food options to FC Tucson games, and let the club be known as a place people can come for fun on game days.
“There’s a heritage here — not only of the culture, but of this club,” Powers said. “This club for eight years was one of the nationally known amateur leagues within the Premier Development League. They used to get 2,000 fans a game and attracted top talent.”
Powers said that one of her goals is to show the players as the “true players in the community,” by getting involved in local schools and community centers to try to connect with local kids.
“It’s beyond soccer, it really is,” Powers said, saying she saw success with that model in Albuquerque. “Those kids have posters of the players in their bedroom. I don’t know how you measure that sort of positive impact, that we know there’s a lot of goodness there.”
With MLS preseason starting soon, Powers is looking forward to showcasing Tucson and all the available activities as the “12th Man” on the team. In mid-February, FC Tucson will launch its season ticket sales with a chef competition, tifo making, female mariachis and DJs spinning music.
MLS preseason kicks off Feb. 15 with a doubleheader at Kino North Stadium, FC Tucson’s home field. That day, fans can get a sneak peek of what to expect a FC Tucson game.
“I’m playing to win,” Powers said. “This team that we’ve got here is ready to work a little extra hard for the community to have a better year.”
