Lynne Meterparel

San Jose Clash general manager takes her team out to meet the community and expand the fan base

Lynne Meterparel, the new general manager for San Jose's major league soccer team, the Clash, has come to the Bay Area to accomplish a very big thing--some might even say to perform a miracle. Her job is to get Bay Area residents to think of the Clash as their soccer team. She has to create a connection between residents and the team as visceral as that of the 49ers, the Raiders and the Sharks--where players are heroes and household names, and fans fill the stands whether the team is winning or losing. Meterparel wants Clash fans to meet in sports bars to watch games or in the parking lot for tailgate parties; she wants kids to don their favorite player's number and scramble for autographs, and dream of some day being an Eric Wynalda or a John Doyle. All of this needs to be accomplished while soccer itself is still struggling to become a fifth major league sport in the United States and while the Clash competes for the same Bay Area fan base that supports six major league teams.   More

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