For the last 3 years, I have been working part-time with a professional football team in the city of Ventura. The team, The Ventura County Fusion, is going into its fifth season in the PDL.

The PDL is the fourth tier of professional football in the United States. That does not sound like it would make a team prestigious but the Fusion are an exception.

The Fusion have played teams from the highest level including Burnley and Everton. They have also played team such as Real Salt Lake, Columbus Crew and most recently the Portland Timbers (the Fusion were the first team to play Portland’s new MLS team).

In 2009 the Fusion won the PDL Championship, an incredible feat for a team in only its third season. The PDL is made up of 64 teams and the Fusion topped them all. In their last season they finished first place In the Southwest Division of the Western Conference.

The Fusion are a fun team to watch and an even more fun team to work for. The man who has set up the entire organization up is Graham Smith, a former professional footballer (mostly played for West Brom). Smith has given me many opportunities to meet and work with professionals in the area of soccer. I have learned much from him and others about the goings on in a football club.

Getting to meet and work with some of my football heroes has been great and I would really like to thank Graham for that opportunity. For anyone out there who has a dream of working in football I can tell you it is all about connections. Once you find one person on the inside make friends with them and your dreams can come true.

The Fusion’s next game is against DC United, a MLS soccer team. The game is at Oxnard College on Saturday, February 19th.