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.