AFC Ann Arbor are pleased to announce Kristine Adams’s joining of the ownership group. Adams has been a vital part of the AFCAA Family since the club’s first season and has made the rise from a volunteer helper in the first season, to the Women’s Team’s General Manager in 2019, to now officially becoming part-owner of AFC Ann Arbor. Adams is also the first woman to join the ownership group.
Adams started with AFC Ann Arbor in the lead-up to the first season in the club’s history in 2015 and attended the very first owners meeting in the club’s history. Adams had a history in working in sports with a corporate marketing internship with the Detroit Pistons and working with Eastern Michigan University athletics promotions and marketing. “I loved the fact that soccer was coming to Ann Arbor and I knew a few of the owners already,” she said about volunteering. An Ann Arbor native as well, she lived just a bike ride away from the then-home of The Mighty Oak, Ann Arbor Pioneer High School.
Over time, Adams became known among match attendees as the smiling face that was seen at the entrance of the matches while continuing to do excellent work behind the scenes as well. She continued to gain experience with The Mighty Oak and ultimately earned the job of the GM for the women’s team in their inaugural campaign.
The GM position, Adams said, was not a huge adjustment given her time already spent around the team. For example, one of the key responsibilities of keeping things running on time and on schedule was no issue to her given her other career as an event planner. “I plan events too, whether it’s a soccer game or sending a bride down the aisle, you have to start on time,” she noted. With the expanded responsibilities and the exceptional response to that first campaign, it had become clear that Adams’s guidance off-the-pitch was essential in making that season run smoothly.
As an owner, one of the key things Adams looks forward to bringing to the owners’ table with her is representation for the women in the AFCAA Family. “You have to have a woman in the room, it just makes sense,” she stated. Adams expressed how during the inaugural campaign she wanted to make sure the women’s team knew that she was a voice for them and is there to assist them. She was pleased at initiatives the club pursued such as offering coaching scholarships for women’s players, of which Mami Yamaguchi received one and was set to serve as player/coach for the 2020 campaign before its cancellation, and looked forward to continuing to amplify women’s voices in the organization.
When asked about why to become an owner and what she loved about AFC Ann Arbor, she said, “It really does feel like a family.” Adams appreciates how much love players have for the organization and the squad even after moving on to professional soccer or other ventures. She also noted how the family atmosphere surrounds not just the club, but the entire organization itself. With Kristine Adams in a leadership role as a part-owner, the expectation is that AFCAA will continue to amplify voices of women in the sport and promote positive change in the state of Michigan as well.