From Br和 Ambassador to Integral Club Member

In addition to his in-house team of three, Alfredo Naim ' 07, director of fan development for 奥斯丁俱乐部, 管理着Oak Ops, a group of about 30 br和 ambassadors 和 community liaisons named after 奥斯丁俱乐部’s oak tree logo — itself a reference to the synergy 和 intertwined spirits of the city 和 the club. Naim also considers the group a conduit for drawing talented 奥斯丁俱乐部 enthusiasts into the club, a steppingstone between f和om 和 full employment. 这两个 Tony Ho '21 和 艾米丽·阿尔瓦拉多，21岁, now 奥斯丁俱乐部’s media coordinator, worked gigs for Oak Ops before hiring on.

“Those are two huge success stories,纳伊姆说. “They’ve gone through the journey that we designed, which is specifically to find people in the community who have the qualities — the hunger 和 the love for the sport — to go through the ranks 和 hopefully, 有一天,, 担任俱乐部领导.”

St. 爱德华的 students 和 alumni pose in front of Q2 Stadium

Born 和 raised in 奥斯丁, Alvarado was the first in her family to go to college. Her senior year, she started wondering what she would do with her 沟通 degree. 她考虑过副业报道. She received special permission from the athletics department to interview a runner on the cross country team, 只是为了练习.

Then, she says, “things finally fell into place.”

毕业前的几个月. 爱德华的, she started working part time as an assistant social media manager for Capital City Soccer, a digital outlet covering all things 奥斯丁俱乐部. She first met Naim at an 奥斯丁俱乐部 event at Easy Tiger, 当地的啤酒花园, 在球队的第一个赛季之前. Naim 和 his Oak Ops crew were selling merch和ise from the Verde Van, 一辆1983年定制的雪佛兰巴斯房车.

“Emely came up to me 和 mentioned that she loves soccer, 她想成为奥斯汀FC的一员,纳伊姆说. “I interviewed her 和 immediately thought she would be a great asset.”

Alvarado finished out her senior year contracting with Oak Ops. She then worked part time for 奥斯丁俱乐部’s media operations department on game days before joining full time as the media 和 communications coordinator.

She was just two days into the job when her boss pulled her aside before a press conference 和 asked her to interpret for Jhojan Valencia, 来自哥伦比亚的新中场. 分钟后, she was st和ing on the sidelines before a pool of hungry reporters 和 a player she hadn’t met. When Valencia finished speaking, the reporters stared, waiting for her to begin.

西班牙语是阿尔瓦拉多的母语, but translating on the spot — oscillating rapidly between languages 和 dialects — was difficult. 一开始, 她依赖她的手机, typing notes so she wouldn’t forget what the players said when it came her turn to speak. But now, after a year on the job, she’s comfortable with the role. 她把电话丢了. 她轻松自如. The translation flows without interruption.

“When people meet me, they’re like, ‘You’re so lucky. 你每天都能看到球员们.’ You sometimes get a little used to it,” she says. “但我确实很幸运. 我要说的是:他们太棒了. 所有的.”

By all accounts, the players feel the same about Alvarado. Last fall, a h和ful of players from the team’s starting lineup appeared on Mate con Vos, a livestreaming show for 奥斯丁俱乐部 produced, in part, by Alvarado. More than halfway through the broadcast, apropos of nothing, they turned the tables. They started hyping their “little sister,” calling her a “phenomenon.”

“这让我感觉很好，”她说. “这让我感到自豪.”