Year: 2020

Welcome to “We are Common.” Every week, we will be introducing you to the people that make up Lansing Common FC. Since this is a community-owned team, this is your chance to learn about all of those who literally make Lansing Common FC what it is. We will start by introducing you to our board members, who were elected in January. Since then, they have been hard at work, getting this team ready to play soccer in 2021. 

Today we are featuring Member-At-Large Scott Oberlander.

How long have you lived in the Lansing area, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I moved to the Lansing area when I started college at Michigan State in 2008. But didn’t fall in love with the city until 2014 when I moved back to Lansing for a job. That’s when I started exploring and experiencing everything the city has to offer. I love how diverse our city is and all of the cool people I have been able to meet. I also love all the unique local restaurants, breweries, and shops we have. It has everything you need while still feeling like a small town.

What was the moment or team that got you invested in Lansing soccer?

I followed Lansing United from afar but never got involved with them, which was one of my biggest regrets. So when Ignite was announced, I knew I wanted to get involved early. I joined the Assembly Line and became a season ticket holder. I also helped produce a weekly podcast called Capital Combustion that covered the team. Then over the course of the season, I fell in love with the soccer community here in Lansing. From chanting for 90+mins together at matches to the watch parties at Ozone’s for road games. I was hooked, and it also helped that coach Nate Miller put together a great group of guys that you couldn’t help but be proud of, win or lose. They represented our city proudly, and I remember telling some people before the playoff game that I never felt more connected to a team than I did this one. After we lost that playoff game, I’ll be honest, I got a little teary-eyed because it marked the end of one of the most fun summers I ever had. I hugged and thanked some of the players after the game for their amazing season. I also told them I looked forward to seeing them back next season. Little did I know that was the last game Ignite would play.

What professional or personal experiences have you brought to the board that have helped you contribute?

I work for a video production company called Render Studios, which is based in Old Town. So I have brought those creative skills to the table. I also love problem-solving and learning new things, which I had to do when building our website and online store, neither of those I had ever done before.

What is something important that the team needs to do to be as successful as we want it to be?

From the start, I have always said for this club to be successful we need to focus community first and soccer second. So if we can bring people together and can contribute to making our community a better place for everyone, we will be a success. If we can put a winning team on the field too, even better.

Where do you see Lansing Common FC in 5 years?

I see Lansing Common FC become a significant part of the community. Not only has a matchday attraction but in building a better community as well. Whether that’s supporting racial & social justice, LGBTQIA+ equality, or sponsoring kids so they can play youth soccer. The list is endless on what we can achieve when we put the community first. I also hope in five years, I can look up and see a sold-out crowd that truly represents the great city I call home.

Starting next week, we will begin to highlight non-board members for this series. If you want to volunteer to be featured, please contact us at info@lansingcommonfc.com.

Welcome to “We are Common”. Every week, we will be introducing you to the people that make up Lansing Common FC. Since this is a community-owned team, this is your chance to learn about all of those who literally make Lansing Common FC what it is. We will start by introducing you to our board members, who were elected in January. Since then, they have been hard at work getting this team ready to play soccer in 2021. 

Today we are featuring Board Secretary Steve Beckman.

How long have you lived in the Lansing area, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I grew up in Jackson, MI and moved to the Lansing area in 2000 when I started at Michigan State University. I really enjoy its proximity to MSU and how Lansing is a big small town: Big enough to have a diverse community that attracts large companies and events, but small enough to keep that community tight-knit.

What was the moment or team that got you invested in Lansing soccer?

I started following Lansing United when the club was announced, but I regrettably never attended a men’s match. To make up for that lost time I went to every Ignite home game I could. The delirium I experienced in the supporter’s section after two stoppage time goals defeated Forward Madison was something I’ll never forget. I want Lansing soccer fans to have the opportunity to experience something like that every summer.

What professional or personal experiences have you brought to the board that have helped you contribute?

As an Information Technology professional responsible for managing large enterprise systems, I have nearly 20 years of experience being detail-oriented in order to ensure success. I have brought that same approach to my time as the board’s secretary and look forward to contributing to the club’s future growth.

What is something important that the team needs to do to be as successful as we want it to be?

It’s important for our team to exhibit hard work on the field and some community engagement off it. Our community was built on hard work and will show up to support a hard-working team. The more our team engages with its fans, the more exciting our match days will be, and the results will follow.

Where do you see Lansing Common FC in 5 years?

Five years from now I see Lansing Common FC as a club that attracts fans from every neighboring county, has become self-sustaining, wins 3 points, and consistently organizes to benefit its community.

I can’t wait to celebrate another win with the supporter’s section the next time Lansing’s club scores two stoppage time goals!

Starting next week, we will begin to highlight non-board members for this series. If you want to volunteer to be featured, please contact us at info@lansingcommonfc.com.

One of the things we have committed to as an organization is to be an active contributor to the Lansing-area community. We aim to create opportunities for our members and supporters to engage with the community in constructive ways.

Help Keep Lansing’s LGBTQIA+ Community Center Open

For years, Lansing’s soccer fans have supported Salus Center, which provides space, service, and resources to Lansing’s LGBTQIA+ community. They have been severely impacted by COVID-19’s effects on the economy and need to raise $80,000 by September 1st in order to continue operating. To support that effort, we’re selling Lansing Common FC Pride t-shirts and stickers and donating 100% of the proceeds to Salus Center’s GoFundMe campaign. You can purchase your t-shirt here, and if you want to go above and beyond, you can donate directly to the Salus Center’s campaign.

Pride t-shirts will be available for purchase until August 28th.

Scarf Competition and Supporting Lansing Schools

During the week of August 10th we went head-to-head with Livonia City FC in our first-ever competition. Since we won’t be playing soccer on the field until the spring of 2021, we took on Livonia City in a competition to see who could sell the most scarves. In line with our commitment to supporting Lansing’s schools, teachers, and students, we donated 51.7% of the proceeds to the Lansing Educational Advancement Foundation. 

Your fantastic support helped us win the scarf competition by selling 57 scarves in just 1 week and raising $400 to benefit education in Lansing! Thank you for helping us achieve Lansins Common FC’s first ever victory! 

If there are local organizations you would like to see us support or partner with, please send your suggestions to volunteer@lansingcommonfc.com. 

Welcome to “We are Common.” Every week, we will be introducing you to the people that make up Lansing Common FC. Since this is a community-owned team, this is your chance to learn about all of those who literally make Lansing Common FC what it is. We will start by introducing you to our board members, who were elected in January. Since then, they have been hard at work, getting this team ready to play soccer in 2021. 

Today we are featuring Member-At-Large Cameron Tanner.

How long have you lived in the Lansing area, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I’ve lived in Lansing since 2016 when I moved back to Michigan for school. I really enjoy the authenticity of my interactions with people in the community and the fact that there are so many opportunities to build great things. Lansing represents hope and growth to me.

What was the moment or team that got you invested in Lansing soccer?

I feel like I was always going to be invested in Lansing soccer in some way. I sought out the soccer community upon moving back. The Rafa’s Shirt match for United in 2017 was my first really big emotional moment though.

What professional or personal experiences have you brought to the board that has helped you contribute?

I consider myself somewhat of a soccer evangelist. Soccer has been a part of me since I was really young. My uncle, Paul Kato (former Mason High soccer coach), turned me onto the sport as a child and as an adult, I’ve just sought ways to keep it in my life. I’ve ended up starting and coaching a high school team, starting supporter groups (American Outlaws Winston-Salem and a supporter group for Wake Forest, and building places for supporters to come together over soccer. I bring those broad experiences in growing soccer communities and bringing people together for a common goal.

What is something important that the team needs to do to be as successful as we want it to be?

For the team to be as successful as we want it to be, we will have to continue to not only listen to the community but proactively find as many voices as we can to listen to. I want our community to see themselves in the team every time they take the field, but also to feel pride and a sense of belonging every time they see someone wearing the crest around the area.

Where do you see Lansing Common FC in 5 years?

I don’t know what level we’ll be playing at, but I would love to see us as a recognized member of the community that is known for its support and advocacy. I would really love to see us providing opportunities for youth to grow in the game in a way that isn’t related to being able to pay to join a certain club.

Over the next few weeks, we will continue to introduce you to our 6-person board. After that, we want to highlight other members as well. If you want to volunteer to be featured, please contact us at info@lansingcommonfc.com.

Welcome to “We are Common”. Every week, we will be introducing you to the people that make up Lansing Common FC. Since this is a community-owned team, this is your chance to learn about all of those who literally make Lansing Common FC what it is. We will start by introducing you to our board members, who were elected in January. Since then, they have been hard at work getting this team ready to play soccer in 2021. 

Today we are featuring Member At-Large Jacquelynn “Jay” Biggs. 

How long have you lived in the Lansing area, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I’ve lived in Greater Lansing my entire life and have been in Lansing proper for 4 years now!

What was the moment or team that got you invested in Lansing soccer?

I’m going to get made fun of for this but the first team I really followed was Man U. A good friend in college was a huge fan and got me into the world’s game for the first time really. After moving to Lansing and with all the credit to Jamie Hiller, I was dragged to a few Lansing United games and got to experience live soccer for the first time and really fell in love with it!

What professional or personal experiences have you brought to the board that have helped you contribute?

I’m the extrovert at-large in addition to having lots of fundraising and sponsorship experience.

What is something important that the team needs to do to be as successful as we want it to be?

I personally want a super competitive team that does well in our league. I don’t think we will have an issue with this but I think the buy-in from the coach and the players is going to be super important for us to have on the field success. 

Where do you see Lansing Common FC in 5 years?

I love the thought of LCFC being self-sustaining so I can hand off my portion of the responsibilities to the next set of board members and enjoy the games knowing our little baby is in good hands!

Over the next few weeks, we will continue to introduce you to our 6-person board. After that, we want to highlight other members as well. If you want to volunteer to be featured, please contact us at info@lansingcommonfc.com.

Lansing Common may not be playing soccer games until 2021, but we can still win in other ways. For the next week, August 10-16, Lansing Common will be competing against fellow Midwest Premier League member Livonia City FC in a scarf competition. This will be an opportunity for Lansing to pick up its first win! 

It’s simple, whoever sells the most scarves wins. 

In addition, Lansing Common will be donating 51.7% of proceeds to the Lansing Educational Advancement Foundation, to support their efforts to enrich the educational experience for all Lansing Public School District students. 

We’ve said from the start that we want to not only play at Lansing Eastern’s stadium but that we want to be an active supporter of Lansing area schools. Help us show our support (and beat Livonia City in our first matchup with them) by buying a scarf today!

If you want to go above and beyond, you can also donate directly to the Lansing Educational Advancement Foundation on their website. 

Welcome to “We are Common”. Every week, we will be introducing you to the people that make up Lansing Common FC. Since this is a community-owned team, this is your chance to learn about all of those who literally make Lansing Common FC what it is. We will start by introducing you to our board members, who were elected in January. Since then, they have been hard at work getting this team ready to play soccer in 2021. 

Today, we introduce you to Geoff Sykes. Geoff is not only the Vice President of Lansing Common FC, he is also our designer. You may be familiar with his work if you know what our crest looks like.

How long have you lived in the Lansing area, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I’ve lived in the Greater Lansing Area since 2007, and the city itself since 2012. I love how Lansing has just about everything, but still feels small and familiar.

What was the moment or team that got you invested in Lansing soccer?

The first Lansing United match in 2014. I had always wanted a local team, so I went to the first match to check and see it was legit. Needless to say, I loved it from that moment on.

What professional or personal experiences have you brought to the board that have helped you contribute?

I work as a Designer and Product Developer at Moneyball Sportswear. It has allowed me to use my branding skills to help the club find its visual identity. Be on the lookout for awesome products in the future. Outside of that, I have experienced how other teams at similar levels do their game-day operations and have been using that to start to shape what our own game day will look like.

What is something important that the team needs to do to be as successful as we want it to be?

Members need to be in the business of attracting new members. To truly reflect Lansing, we need to keep reaching out into our community. Tell your friends and family about us. Tell your coworkers about us. The more people who are aware of us and feel welcomed by our members, the healthier we will be in the long run.

Where do you see Lansing Common FC in 5 years?

Existing. On a more serious note, I would like the club to field championship level sides supported by a community of individuals from all walks of life. On a personal level, I would like to see some form of youth academy or training program in the works. Long term bucket list goal…I would like a soccer-specific stadium to play in. Nothing fancy or anything. Just our own place to call home.

Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to the rest of our 6-person board. After that, we want to highlight other members as well. If you want to volunteer to be featured, please contact us at info@lansingcommonfc.com.

Welcome to “We are Common”. Every week, we will be introducing you to the people that make up Lansing Common FC. Since this is a community-owned team, this is your chance to learn about all of those who literally make Lansing Common FC what it is. We will start by introducing you to our board members, who were elected in January. Since then, they have been hard at work getting this team ready to play soccer in 2021. 

We start by featuring the president of the Lansing Common FC board, Eric Walcott.

How long have you lived in the Lansing area, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I’ve lived in Lansing since 2011, when I moved here for grad school at MSU. I enjoy that for a city its size, Lansing really does have such a variety of experiences to offer. I also love the passion people have for Lansing. 

What was the moment or team that got you invested in Lansing soccer?

I was a Lansing United supporter from Day 1 back in 2014, and helped start the supporters group, The Ransom, which is still active in supporting the Lansing United women’s team. That experience, and the relationships and connections I’ve built through that, are what convinced me that soccer in Lansing can be so much more than just showing up for 90 minutes during games, it can be something that has a greater impact. 

What professional or personal experiences have you brought to the board that have helped you contribute?

I’ve previously served as president of a local non-profit, so that experience has been valuable in building our non-profit organization with Lansing Common FC. In my day job, I work for MSU Extension, doing education for local government officials and staff on things like local government finance, organizational structure and leadership, and community engagement. That blend of experience and expertise has been helpful in figuring out organizational structure for Lansing Common, setting up budgets and financial policies, and thinking through processes for member and community engagement. 

Personally, my experience as a member of the Ransom gave me an up close perspective on how a lot of things work in lower-league soccer and ideas on things Lansing Common should adapt and things we might want to do differently. 

What is something important that the team needs to do to be as successful as we want it to be?

In some ways I think the soccer is the easy part. That’s not to say it will be easy to pull everything together to run a soccer team, but that part is more straightforward and obvious. I think the way we engage our community, and the things we get involved in as an organization will be vital to our overall success. If we do a good job building authentic relationships so that we can be positive contributors in the Lansing area, I’m confident in the impact that we can have, and hopefully, that leads to opportunities we can provide related to the soccer side of things. 

Where do you see Lansing Common FC in 5 years?

I could go a lot of different ways with things I’d like to see for Lansing Common FC in 5 years. The first is to still be active. I’d like Lansing Common to be a thriving, sustainable club that’s competing for trophies every year. I’d like to see our impact in the community grow each year. I’d like to see a former Lansing Common FC player playing professional soccer. 

Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to the rest of our 6-person board. After that, we want to highlight other members as well. If you want to volunteer to be featured, please contact us at info@lansingcommonfc.com.

It was October 2019. Lansing Ignite, building on the success of Lansing United’s 4 years in NPSL and USL-PDL, was coming off of a successful debut season on and off the field in USL League One. Supporters were talking about ideas to build the club following for the next season. And then it was gone. Lansing Ignite folded after only one season of existence. The passionate, devoted fans of Ignite were left with nothing after pouring their hearts and souls into this team. Meanwhile, the fans of Lansing United, who had been there since 2014, were left to wonder why their team and its history had been so easily discarded to create a team with an owner who did not particularly care about soccer.

A couple weeks later, a group of Lansing soccer fans gathered at Ozone’s Brewhouse and vowed to bring soccer back to town. This time, however, they would do it their way. This time, it would be community-owned and operated. This time, no one person would dictate the club’s future. Lansing Common Football Club brings that dream to life. 

Over the following months, a board was established, and a lot of hard work went in to big picture things like figuring out who we want to be as an organization and determining our brand and identity. The next steps were to establish ourselves as a 501(c)3 non-profit and applying for league membership.

After putting in that hard work, we are ready to announce our team to the world. We are eager to keep building something special in Lansing. We are already working hard to make sure we’re ready to put a team on the field in May of 2021, and we can’t wait for you to join us. 

What is LCFC?

Lansing Common FC is a community team. It’s in our name. It’s the core of our identity. Our club is run by a volunteer board that is elected by the members of the club. Anyone can be a member. You can be a member. If our club isn’t meeting the expectations of its members, their voices will be heard. 

From the beginning, it was important to us that those involved with this club (the members) have a role in building it and in the important decisions along the way. That means that members get to vote on popular things like scarf design and jerseys. It also means that they can vote on important business decisions. Things like changing the team’s name, moving the team to a different league, or anything else significant, the membership would get to vote on that too. Membership also votes on the composition of the board every year and is encouraged to run and serve on the board if they are willing. 

We want Lansing to have a soccer team the community can be proud of, but we also want to be part of something bigger. Yes, we want to put a good team on the field and win trophies, but it’s just as important that we be an active part of the community off the field. Wherever we can help support this community, we want to do that. We’ve tried to do that during each step of our journey and we look forward to building on that going forward. We will always welcome your ideas about how we can positively influence the Lansing community.

Our Goals and Your Role

Short Term Goals

• Identify how we can have the greatest impact in the community – We have some ideas about how we can contribute, but we also want to work with our community to identify what needs we may be well-placed to meet. That’s going to take work on our part to build and strengthen relationships across the Lansing community, and we’d love your help with that. If you have ideas or connections to Lansing-area organizations you think we should partner with, anything like that, please let us know
• Partner with Lansing Schools – We hope to host home games at Lansing Eastern High School’s stadium. We don’t want to be a team that only uses it for a few hours on game days and then goes home. We want to be active partners and collaborators. We are in conversation with the Lansing School District and look forward to continuing to build a relationship with them.
• Prepare for the 2021 Season – We’re getting ready to kick things off in the spring of 2021. 

How You Can Help

While the board is working hard, this is a community-owned team. That means we are counting on you, on members of this community, to be involved in making it the best that it can be. 

If your friends, family, and neighbors don’t know about us, we need you.

If you have connections to a business we can partner with, we need you.

If you have connections in the media, we need you.

If you have connections or knowledge about local charities and organizations we can partner with, we need you.

If you have connections with Lansing-area schools, we need you.

If you have time, money, skills, knowledge, or other resources to contribute, we need you.