To Hank Steinbrecher, working in a dream world wasn’t nearly as important as building one for millions of others.
That’s the primary reason Steinbrecher jumped from a majestic yacht to a sinking ship in November of 1990. He left a secure high-level job at Gatorade to become executive director/secretary general of the United States Soccer Federation, the sport’s governing body in America.
As director of sports marketing for Gatorade, Steinbrecher was the beneficiary of perks that were more like sweepstakes prizes. For six years he traveled to some of the world’s most exotic locales, rubbed elbows with folks who belong on “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” and had first row seats to every major sporting event, from the Super Bowl to the World Series.
“It was the perfect job,” Steinbrecher said of his Gatorade gig.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to ask the obvious question: Why in the wide, wide world of sports did he leave the glitz and glamor of the burgeoning sports marketing field to become the guardian of an organization that, by his own admission, had failed to plan for the future and was run by a bunch of volunteers?
The answer is simple. Steinbrecher wanted to nurture a sport he grew up with from a child into a thriving adult.
“I made the move because I believed passionately about what the sport has to offer,” said Steinbrecher, 46, of Glen Ellyn. “There are few opportunities in one’s life when you’re asked to step up to the plate to swing. I had an opportunity to make a difference. I could either sit on the sidelines and criticize everybody or I could stand up. If we swing and miss, so be it.”
That plate appearance is far from over. In his current position, Steinbrecher is entrusted with expanding the growth and development of soccer in the United States, an outrageously broad-based umbrella that encompasses everyone playing in youth leagues up to the U.S. National Team.
His duties are similar to the NBA commissioner, except that Steinbrecher deals with those on both the professional and amateur levels. In other words, for practically all 50 million people who play soccer in this country.
As vice president of Gatorade Worldwide Sports Marketing, Bill Schmidt, also of Glen Ellyn, worked with Steinbrecher both at Gatorade and on the 1984 Olympic Committee. Schmidt said his friend’s engaging personality is serving him well in his mission to get such diverse interests working together.
“He’s never met a stranger,” Schmidt said, “whether it’s a cab driver or a member of the corporate community. He has great confidence and a tremendous amount of leadership. People naturally want to follow him.
“Hank has great vision and he knows how to get results,” Schmidt said. “His vision and leadership is what soccer needed. Soccer was so fragmented, with so much infighting it was a political nightmare. Hank is tenacious and intense, and he’s got a get-it-done attitude-and get it done right.”
As if the monumental role of getting 50 million soccer people to work together isn’t enough, Steinbrecher is also responsible for coordinating the 1994 World Cup, a month-long, 24-team event whose magnitude exceeds every sports event on this planet, including the Super Bowl.
With soccer firmly rooted as the world’s most popular sport, the World Cup, held every four years, is practically a religious experience for some.
“Nothing else compares to it,” Steinbrecher said. “There are more countries that belong to FIFA (the sport’s international governing body) than belong to the U.N., and I venture to say, to some countries, their affiliation with FIFA is more important to them. It is totally consuming to the international populace.”
Steinbrecher served as a soccer venue director for the 1984 Olympic Games. That experience has prepared him for his latest challenge, but it was only a single snowflake compared to hosting the blizzard of America’s first World Cup.
The opening ceremonies will be held at Chicago’s Soldier Field June 17, 1994, fittingly just a few blocks from U.S. Soccer Federation headquarters, at 18th and Prairie just off Michigan Avenue.
“The World Cup is a huge event. Most Americans don’t understand the magnitude of it,” Steinbrecher said. “This is nine cities for an entire month. We’re having 24 dream teams come to the United States. When you think about all the work that has to be done for that, it’s absolutely an avalanche.”
Soccer insiders say the U.S. Soccer Federation clearly chose the right man to weather that storm. Steinbrecher, who was born in Brooklyn and moved to Long Island as a child, grew up playing soccer in New York City’s youth leagues. He continued to play the sport through his days at Mitchell College in New London, Conn., and Elkins College in Elkins, W. Va.
As head coach at Boston University, Steinbrecher’s NCAA Division I program produced 14 All-Americans in five seasons. He also coached at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C., and Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.
“I came up through the ranks. I played, I coached and I refereed,” Steinbrecher said. “I think people believe that my motives are pure and there’s no get-rich-quick scheme working here. I’m not here to double-deal.”
The World Cup is anticipated to feed $4 billion into the U.S. economy. There are 3.5 million tickets available, 500,000 of which are currently being sold exclusively to soccer enthusiasts throughout the nation. An additional 500,000 tickets will be put on sale for the general public in June. The balance of the tickets will be sold to fans of the participating countries or parceled out to FIFA and World Cup corporate sponsors.
Steinbrecher says the demand has already been overwhelming. Every game is expected to be a sellout.
The U.S. Soccer Federation plans on reinvesting its World Cup profits back into the sport to ensure its continued growth. Resulting benefits are expected to include a professional outdoor league in 1995 and hundreds of new jobs in the field. In fact, the World Cup will serve as a marketing tool for that pro league.
“The World Cup is not important for us. It’s important for our children and our children’s children,” Steinbrecher said.
Ask Steinbrecher what he loves about soccer and be prepared to cancel the rest of your afternoon appointments. Root canal couldn’t stop this man from preaching about the game he loves.
“It’s a players’ game,” he said with a sudden burst of enthusiasm. “There are no timeouts. It’s a game of tremendous fluidity. And the international aspect always appealed to me.
“Even today, playing the game of soccer is literally the only time in my life that I feel free. I don’t think about bills. I don’t think about my family. I don’t think about business. I don’t think about anything but that game.”
When Steinbrecher came on board, the U.S. Soccer Federation was on shaky ground. He immediately began erecting a sturdy infrastructure that consisted of both full-time salaried employees and long-range goals. As a result, the organization has made tremendous strides.
Said Alan Rothenberg, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation and chairman and CEO of World Cup USA 1994, Inc.: “When I took over (in 1990), our federation was still being run on a mom and pop basis.
“If you look at Hank’s qualities, there are multiple reasons he was the best man for the job. He knows the sport and he loves the sport. He played the game and he coached the game. He also had experience running a major sports marketing company. He had all levels of exposure to the sport.
“I nicknamed him Reverend Hank because he has almost an evangelical zeal for the sport. He’s a tremendous motivational speaker and is truly an ambassador of soccer.
“He’s just done a splendid job. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
Before Steinbrecher, the federation had only one corporate sponsor. Today, it boasts 17, including such home-run hitters as Coca-Cola, American Airlines, Sprint and Mastercard.
Mark Brickley, president of SportsLink, a New York-based sports marketing company that represents Chiquita Banana, a U.S. Soccer Federation sponsor, said he has seen Steinbrecher bring soccer more into the mainstream.
“He has a soccer background yet he also has a mainstream sense of reference as far as his marketing background,” Brickley said. “Before Hank arrived, soccer had a tendency to isolate itself from other major sports. It was self-destructive, not understanding why football is so popular or Michael Jordan is so popular.
“He possesses a combination of skills that are quite unique and soccer has needed for a long time. Hank also combines a sense of integrity with a realistic way the sport can get itself into the crowded sports calendar.”
Before Steinbrecher, the national team averaged about 5,000 fans per game. Today, that figure is closing in on 30,000. Additionally, since Reverend Hank came on board, the U.S. has won one world championship and finished second in two others.
The federation manages a total six men’s teams and two women’s teams broken down into different age categories.
“I think by any measurement we’ve been phenomenally successful,” Steinbrecher said. “But am I satisfied with where we are? The answer is absolutely not.”
Much of that journey-and reaching the eventual destination-revolves around harnessing a popularity explosion that will forever alter the sport’s fan base and image. The perception that soccer is played only in the cities by men named Rolf is off target.
“Soccer has always been ethnic and urban,” Steinbrecher explained. “It started out as immigrants coming to the U.S. and playing this passionate game. In the last 10 years, the demographics of soccer have changed radically. Today, it’s Mom and Dad, two kids, two lawn chairs, a $40,000 a year income and a minivan on Saturday morning.
“Soccer has become the universal sport of family, fun and fitness.”
Converting that fervor into a flourishing outdoor professional league is another thing. Outdoor leagues have failed in the past, but Steinbrecher is confident a pro outdoor league will thrive in the future after the game is made more consumer-friendly.
Starting that from scratch will likely be another task placed at Reverend Hank’s feet. That will mean a few more sleepless nights for a man who’s already helped achieve a bunch of firsts for soccer in the United States.
“I don’t consider myself a pioneer,” Steinbrecher said. “I think visionary is a better word. The pioneers were our forefathers who played soccer in this country. I’m interested in where we’ll be in 2005, rather than just where we are today.”
Steinbrecher and wife Ruth Anne have been married for 20 years. The couple has two sons, Chad, 17, and Corey, 10. Chad is a goaltender for the Glenbard West soccer team while Corey plays in local youth leagues.
Steinbrecher’s father was a janitor and his mother sold jewelry in a large department store. Both died within a couple of months of each other when Hank was only 20 years old.
Steinbrecher labels himself as gregarious and outgoing. Those who know him also say he’s a warm person who is genuinely concerned about others.
“He’s the most caring person I’ve ever met in my whole life,” said Terry Johnsen, Hank’s secretary. “He cares about everyone and tries to help everyone. He’s just unreal.
“He spoke at a career day last week and I think about 700 aspiring young people called the next day and said `I spoke to Hank . . .’ “
Steinbrecher says he doesn’t get embarrassed easily and loves having some good clean fun at his children’s expense. Like the time he and Chad, a guitarist in a heavy metal band, visited a music store. Steinbrecher walked up to the kid behind the counter and purposely butchered the name of a popular heavy metal group just to see how red Chad’s face would turn.
Try stop-sign red.
“They’re very close,” Ruth Anne said of her sons and her husband. “They idolize him. I think Hank has a very strong sense of values and he always tries to do the right thing.”
“The best thing about our relationship, above everything else, is the friendship,” said Chad. “Ever since I was little we’ve been the best of friends. He and I hit it off. It’s hard to explain.
“He knows when to draw the line, but, because he’s always pulled me in the right direction, I’ve never crossed that line.
“I’ve never suffered any harsh consequences or anything like that. I’ve come home late a couple of times, but nothing severe.”
As the World Cup approches, Steinbrecher is both anxious and excited. The world’s eyes will be focused intently on his organization and his country to see how the U.S. handles “their” sport’s crown jewel. Steinbrecher isn’t worried.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to show that we are unique and we can do something different from the rest of the world,” he said. “I’m a very patriotic person. I’ve been in something like 67 countries and I’ve never found a country quite like ours. I’m a real flag-waver. I want this to be not only a showcase for our sport, but a showcase for our country and what we can do.
“We’ll have a lot more entertainment wrapped around the event. It’s going to be distinctly American.”
During his time as a coach, Steinbrecher said, he learned to keep his emotions in check. It’s a similar modus operandi he uses in his present position, which requires channeling volumes of information and duties to various personnel. More than 60 people work at the U.S. Soccer Federation headquarters in Chicago.
“As a manager, I’d like to think of myself as a good delegator,” he said. “Anyone who thinks they can manage the World Cup by themselves is insane. I like to keep my fingers on everything and my hands out of everything.
“The pressure is very intense. There are a lot of expectations on us, and those expectations are that the World Cup will be a giant success.”
Exciting soccer, enthusiastic fans and national pride will make the World Cup a success. But how does a human being achieve it?
“It’s not money, fame or prestige,” said Steinbrecher, who as recently as 1984 was earning $14,000 as a college soccer coach. “I think you’ll ultimately be judged by the good deeds you do for other people. Money has never been the primary motivating factor in my life.
“I think if you live up to your principles every day, that’s success. To laugh often and hard, that’s success. To enjoy life and be passionate, that’s success.
“It’s whether or not your son can tell you he loves you and you’re his best friend. Success is the simple things in life.”
