A midfielder always helps the team

Mary-Frances is out walking when our Zoom interview starts. It’s a sunny day in Massachusetts and she’s walking and talking, fast and energetic. That sums her up to a tee.

- I like to keep myself busy, to educate myself and I like to work hard, she says.

And that’s a good thing, because she has plenty of work at her hands. As the fairly new commissioner for the Development Player League - a job that she officially started July 1, 2020 - she spends a lot of time answering emails and organizing things for the league.

- Some days I am in front of the computer from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Mary-Frances, or MF as she is known to everyone, is thriving in this job.

- I am so excited about this position as commissioner for the DPL, she says. This job intrigued me because, now I am on the other side, if that makes sense?

Being on the other side; meaning MF is no longer a professional soccer player. That is done. She has spent about fifteen years of her career coaching, including seven years for the Miami Hurricanes. Coaching is done too. Even though she will coach the NEFC U23 team this summer, just for the fun of it.

- I need my coaching fix, she laughs.

But for right now, it’s all in as a commissioner for the DPL.

- I love this job because I get to talk to all the club coaches, she says. See if they need anything, it could be as simple as approving a player for a roster. I’ve heard from a lot of the club coaches that they were excited about me being hired in this position, because I wasn’t in club soccer so deep that I was affected by the politics of it.

The job has its challenges. Starting in the middle of a full-blown worldwide pandemic was complicated and a massive hurdle. But MF isn’t one to scare easily.

- I knew some of the board members from before and they really put me at ease. They made me understand that they wanted me there to help through the difficult time that we were in due to Covid-19. And I believe that if we can make it through 2020, we can make it through any year. Knock on wood.

Working her way to the top

MF has done well in life. She has played midfielder and attacker for the US Women’s National Soccer Team and has nine caps. MF also played Professionally for a few years and played college soccer at UConn before transferring to UCLA.

She has been on the NSCAA Division I College All-American four times, something that only about twenty players have succeeded with in the entire country. MF is a hard worker, always has been and always will be. She points out two things as being her strengths as a soccer player.

- I was very fit and very technical. It was hard to get the ball away from me, she says and smiles.

MF was born in New York and grew up on Long Island. With three older brothers and one twin sister, she was part of a big family. Laughingly she explains that her mom and dad liked middle names. MF: s twin sister Jean-Marie does not abbreviate to JM though. She goes by Jean.

- I came from not much, growing up. Financially we struggled. We were always the scholarship kids, and we were incredibly lucky that we had a club that supported us. That allowed my sister and I to go to college and get our degrees.

MF picked mathematics as a major with the dream of becoming a teacher.

- I love math, but when I transferred to UCLA, I changed my major to sociology. I thought sociology would be good in the coaching world. Also, by switching my major I could finish in time and go on to play professional soccer.

The extraordinarily successful soccer journey started with a twin sister doing what a sibling does best, teasing. The sisters were around eight at the time and Jean was into soccer. MF was not.

- She was the one who played first, she was a goalkeeper. She made fun of me and that’s why I wanted to play, says MF and laughs.

No coincidence that when asked to describe herself she picks words as competitive, determined, and hardworking. Especially the latter. She learned her work ethics from her parents.

- My dad worked two full time jobs when I was growing up, and he still came to my games when I was playing at college level. Sometimes he would fall asleep in the stands. He was a foreman on the railroad on the New Jersey transit, and worked as a janitor for a post office. Mom worked hard too, as a nanny. There were always about ten kids in the house when I was growing up.

Living the family dream

MF suddenly stops mid sentence as well as mid-step in the brisk walk that she’s still out on, to talk to someone in a car for a minute.

- That was my wife Sarah and our daughter Sadie going by, she explains.

MF and Sarah just celebrated their six-year anniversary. Sadie will turn three any day now and she has thoroughly explained that she wants a raspberry cake and a pink bike for her birthday.

- Sadie is so funny, sometimes she looks at me and says “mommy, stop working!”

Despite the many hours by the computer, as a commissioner MF still wishes she could be more involved. In terms of seeing people face to face.

- But it’s not realistic because I can’t be everywhere all the time.

The Development Player League is spread all over the country and Covid effectively put a complete stop to all traveling. The showcase in Florida in April was the first time in a long time that players, coaches, and commissioners got to live proper soccer life again.

- I was so nice to finally meet the coaches face to face at the Lakewood Ranch event. I had only met many of them through email up to that point. But I have a huge network from my time as a coach, so I also know many of them from before.

Being the players’ coach

The sociology degree came in handy when she was coaching college players.

- When I coach, I am very structured and organized and I communicate a lot with the players. It’s a balancing act on how you manage your players. I like to give them some ownership and responsibilities to show them that what they want out of their experience is important. For example, where do you want the team meal to be, I would have some of my older player’s speak to a younger player that may be struggling, etc. While giving them some “power” they are also learning leadership skills.

Being a pro soccer player isn’t only about talent and hard work though. You need guidance and stability too. When MF first played at that level in college, she found a mentor in former US Women’s National Team Coach Jill Ellis.

- She has been very influential in my life through my soccer journey, says MF. She was like a family member away from home, sometimes giving me tough love as well as being my confidante.

MF knows both sides to soccer-life; the shiny side of the coin and the rough one too. The biggest challenge when she started playing professionally was finances.

- I was playing professional soccer, trying to make a living. But the salary then just wasn’t high enough to live on. When I got drafted to The Philadelphia Charge, I lived with five of my teammates. We helped each other out and we made it work. When I went to The Boston Breakers, I lived with a host family.

Offering her advice

MF has finished the walk and sits out on the patio, when an almost three-year-old girl pops her head into the frame and smiles. MF tells her daughter to say hi. Sadie is wearing a red t-shirt with NEXT LEVEL SOCCER CAMP printed on the front.

- That’s my own soccer business, she says like it’s the most natural thing in the world to run a business on top of everything else she does. We run soccer camps, we make highlight videos for players and help them navigate the recruiting process.

MF says that friends and family would probably describe her as a good person and someone that wants to help. Those words resurface again and again throughout our conversation.

Back to talking about the DPL and the job as commissioner.

- The best thing about this job is me being there to let the club coaches know that their voices are being heard. I came in really wanting to hear what they had to say. I like to be able to help people.

With two minutes to spare she says she has another Zoom call at 1:30 p.m. She waves and says thank you. Sadie is squirming around on her lap, still smiling.

This is the life of a commissioner. And a mom.

Mary-Frances “MF” Monroe – The Fun facts

Food she can’t live without: Sriracha! “Even though it’s not a food I can’t live without this.”

Favorite movie: Miss Congeniality

Best advice she got: Work hard! Be accountable. Be honest. Be truthful.

Best advice she can give: Work hard! Or go home.

Binge watching right now: New Amsterdam.

Pet: Don’t have one, but love dogs.

Dream vacay: Tropical Island