1) What is the Lower Island Soccer Association?

The Lower Island Soccer Association (LISA) is a non-profit organization that provides administrative services to ten youth soccer clubs in the lower island, spanning from Duncan, to Sooke, to Gulf Islands and Greater Victoria. Additionally, LISA administers the Lower Island's elite youth soccer teams competing in inter-district competition against British Columbia's other elite youth soccer teams.

 LISA's vision is to create the highest quality soccer environment in their community by maximizing opportunities to participate, and encourage the pursuit of personal, team and community excellence. LISA's mandate is to uphold decisions made at the provincial level (BC Soccer) while providing leadership, maintaining integrity and pursuing excellence in the soccer community.

 2) What were your responsibilities?

 I held two positions while working with LISA – the Game Day Manager, and the Marketing and Administrative Assistant.

 As the Game Day Manager, I was responsible for determining the home game fields for LISA's elite soccer team, the Vancouver Island Wave. I was also responsible for liaising between team and game officials, to welcome the visiting team, to ensure game details were shared, and to keep others up to date with any last minute changes. I was responsible for announcing the starting line-ups, playing the Canadian national anthem, and acting as the fourth game official by keeping score.

As the Marketing and Administrative Assistant, I undertook projects such as updating the LISA Rules and Administration Manual, creating  monthly eNewsletters, creating and managing the LISA Facebook page, updating the LISA website, and assisting with other relevant duties (e.g. counting and sorting soccer jerseys). These projects were very self-directed; I was informed of deadlines and was provided with direction when needed, but was allowed to work freely. I learned not to overlook goal-setting, to ask questions at the beginning, to take notes along the way, and to recognize when my productivity on a task is diminishing, to change focus and return to a project at a later date.

3) What competencies did you use in your role?

This position gave me great experience working independently without direct supervision. This heightened sense of responsibility and accountability further instilled in me the importance of arriving early and prepared to work. I learned that regularly asking others for their feedback is an invaluable tool when seeking ways to improve the event and ensuring I arrived to work prepared.Both positions also required communication over multiple channels (i.e. e-mail, phone, eNewsletters, social media, face-to-face) and I learned how to change my style and tone of communication accordingly. This, along with the experience working independently and in a self-guided project management setting, will be particularly useful to me as I seek jobs with increasingly less supervision and greater responsibility. On top of this, it was a lot of fun! The LISA employees are all very friendly and the organizational culture is one of acceptance, enthusiasm, and equity. It was a truly rewarding experience, both personally and professionally.