My NNHSC Experience 
story time...

I want to tell this story from a grassroots level, which is not only a beginner program we offer at NNHSC, but also a necessary and foundational phase of anything with the intention of growth. This club was a planted seed, and I have seen it blossom into something quite beautiful during my time here. If you nurture something, it will grow. Here is my proof.

 

Mission Statement & Concept Development

This club's mission statement from the beginning was centered around the idea of creating a home for soccer that was affordable and accessible to players in the northern region of New Hampshire. The intention here was to deter from the exodus to the south of the state where the hub of soccer seemed to be. New Hampshire soccer is not centralized, it is southbound. I can speak from experience. When I was playing club soccer, I drove an hour and thirty minutes to the seacoast of NH to practice three times a week in pursuit of that higher level and quality I was looking for. This was a huge factor in the club's consumer research, and aided the development of the programs we were going to take to market and present to our audience. I wasn't the only kid who wanted to play soccer and pursue excellence in my sport, but I was very fortunate to be one of the only players to have the opportunity and support to travel and pay for that 'excellence' I was craving. NNHSC's target audience almost single handedly created the club by the apparent demand for something they knew they could, and had to, supply. So, from there the concept was created. A centralized soccer club that is passionate about the developmental pathway of soccer, with a dynamic business model. The focus was on reasonable costs while still producing and cultivating a high-quality environment. By utilizing the acumen of the protagonists, the market's competitors were well documented. The owner of the club, Jamie Killeen, had been through the ranks of European soccer, U.S soccer, and youth development soccer as both a player and coach. No one else was doing what had to be done for soccer in this region, yet everyone was searching for it. He then realized he could not ask people for directions to places they had never been before, and that is where the concept of 'The Pathway to Excellence' was created. The club blazed its own trail. 

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Ideation Process

The ideation process consisted of four main parts.

Number One: Form a soccer club. Essential.

Number Two: Provide quality in order to attract quality. 

Number Three: Accessibility. A local program that has something for everyone.

Number Four: Funding. How are we going to financially support this business and the programs we provide? This was largely filled with networking, creating relationships with local businesses, local families, reaching quality players, and providing something that proved to benefit people financially and personally through our custom designed business model. The idea that infected each component of these fundamental stages of the business was that we truly believed excellence begets excellence, and you become who you hang around. From there we perpetuated that narrative and got people to believe in our vision.

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Thoughts are things. We created everything a local rural town could offer from its lowest levels to the top end of the programs, bringing in NCAA players to enrich these programs and the environment of the club. 

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Now we were turning plateaus into launch pads...

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Logo, Brand Identity & Marketing

Then we got to the fun stuff. 

Initially, NNHSC went by the name Seacoast United North. When it was first created, the club was an affiliate of Seacoast United Sports Club which was recently bought out by 3Step Sports. When that transaction occurred, Seacoast United North became its own entity, and all rights and ownership were given to the current club owner Jamie Killeen. This shift initiated a logo redesign and rebranding, which in turn impacted all of our visual marketing and branding concepts. This was the stage where creativity and imagination came into play, and consisted of sketching, playing around with names, designs, and colors, (final logo designs and color pallets can be seen in my portfolio). For the youth programs we created their own badge and name called 'Wolfe City' with an emblem outline of a wolf on a royal blue badge. The purpose behind this was to give our youth players unity, playing off of the town name being Wolfeboro, as well as providing a fun mascot that made them feel fierce and brave on and off the field. For the main club we created the name Northern New Hampshire Soccer Club. Simple and to the point. We wanted to highlight the region we are located in, but also not exclude any territories. This felt inclusive, while staying central to our strong identifier being 'North'. The badge/logo for the main club didn't change, it still kept the river running through a mountain, and the colors stayed grey, Carolina blue, and navy. These colors stayed central to the brand identity as well and were essential to keeping uniformity in all of our visuals, promotions, website, and content creation. 

The marketing piece was rewarding because through the promotions, digital marketing pieces, and managing public relations we were able to see how our efforts behind a screen really got feet on grass. It got people signing up, asking questions, getting excited, and the family started to grow fast. I have met some amazing people, and lifelong friends through the work we have done here. I also get to give back to a community that helped me fall in love with the game, and that is the most gratifying piece of all. 

 

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