I usually wake up before 6 and either walk the dog or head to the gym. I have a 35-minute commute from West Hollywood to Hawthorne, and I’m at work by 7:45. Our workday starts at 8.

I spend the first hour checking e-mail and reviewing industry news; soccer news mostly, and general sports and sponsorship news. American Youth Soccer Organization is a non-profit, so I’m looking for new and creative partnerships for both non-profits and traditional sports organizations.

My job is in development, but I’m really a marketing person. It’s my job to increase awareness in communities around the country about AYSO. I’m trying to get more kids playing soccer, and playing with us.

I have a sports marketing background, so I find a lot of inspiration from things going on in the sports-marking industry. I know our brand needs to be out there more.

We have a 9 a.m. staff meeting. I manage a staff of five. The development officers are each responsible for 250 local soccer programs in different parts of the country. They’re focused on getting more kids involved in AYSO and encouraging communities without AYSO programs to start them.

We have 250,000 volunteers from coaches to referees to concession stand managers. What works in Southern California might not work in Maine, but we’re always looking at what other organizations are doing to gain more volunteer participation.

After the staff meeting, I usually take care of regional issues that could have a larger impact. For example, a Southern California volunteer started collecting soccer equipment and donations in his area to assist the AYSO programs impacted by the hurricanes last year. When people starting hearing about it, he started getting inquiries and donations from members throughout the country. Once it becomes that big, it’s beyond what a regional person can handle so I stepped in on a national level.

Sometimes I need to defuse situations in the regions. What happens a lot is a competitor youth soccer organization will attempt to poach players. U.S. Soccer rules say that you can’t actively recruit players within a season so I’ll work with our national board of directors to help resolve these issues.

At the end of the day, I just want kids playing soccer, and I want them playing in a program that’s right for them and hopefully that’s AYSO.

I usually eat lunch at my desk.

In the afternoons, we work on strategy. I’m working on a series of events and promotions focusing on underserved black and Latino communities. It’s a huge area of opportunity for us. Culturally, soccer is very big in Latino communities; we’ve just had a difficult time reaching into this market. Our guiding philosophy is “Everyone Plays.”

We don’t have any real statistics, but we know that inner city communities have not necessarily accepted AYSO. But you can drive through downtown L.A. and see lots of kids playing soccer usually in neighborhood Hispanic leagues or loosely organized games. We would like to have them playing with us. We want to involve them in AYSO and get involved in their communities.

We give volunteers a chance to develop a skill they might not use in their day-to-day lives, like accounting or management, so they can become a league commissioner or local treasurer.

I travel to our regional conferences to meet with volunteers, potential sponsors and partners, or to meet with other soccer organizations.

I’m also trying to develop a personal giving campaign. Traditionally, we’ve raised money only through membership dues and sponsorships. We’ve never sought personal donations, or corporate or foundation grants. We’re also developing an alumni network. We were founded in 1964, so we’re a 42-year-old organization that’s never tapped its alumni. I hear from people every day who now have kids and are remembering their own AYSO experience.

My workday ends at around 6. I don’t bring work home, but I do check e-mail at night because our volunteers all have day jobs and family commitments, so their time to handle soccer business is usually in the evening. Their e-mails might be urgent, but delayed, and it’s the best they can do. I try to be sensitive to that.

Susan Matloff

Director of Membership Development

American Youth Soccer Organization

To Unwind:

Spend time with family and friends. Hikes with the dog. “At eight months pregnant, right now I’m trying to get more sleep.”

On L.A.:

“I’m into design and architecture, so I enjoy driving around L.A.

But as I drive through neighborhoods, I’m always looking for local parks to see if there are kids playing soccer.”

On Kids:

“I played soccer through college, but there was no AYSO program in my community in Indiana. My husband played AYSO here in L.A. for 10 years growing up, so I can say that my kid will definitely play AYSO.”

As told to Hilary Potkewitz