By Jon Johnson
With his trademark “Go, go, go,” Mike Schmitz routinely cheers from the stands as the Dothan United Dragons piece together another win in the United Soccer League Two in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Rip Hewes Stadium.
“I still don’t know the rules,” Schmitz laughs during an interview from his office.
But now as a big fan of soccer, he sits around those who do have plenty of knowledge and love of the sport.
“We’re blessed to have fanatics,” Schmitz said. “On our social media, we get about 1.4 million hits a month during a four-month season.
“I tell everyone, ‘Well, it’s two fanatics that hit it all the time, and I sit next to them and then I know everything, and that’s pretty cool.’”
Schmitz, a co-owner of the franchise which is now in its third year in Dothan, had never attended a soccer match before the Dragons came to town. His little knowledge of the sport came from watching the TV series Ted Lasso, which is about an American football coach hired to manage a British soccer team.
Yet the former mayor of Dothan and ultra-successful businessman who owns the local Mercedes-Benz dealership knew he wanted to be part of the venture from the minute he was approached about being a sponsor.
“They gave the pitch, and I thought it was interesting,” Schmitz said. “I knew nothing about soccer, but I thought we have so many moving pieces in Dothan going … really, really good things … and thought this might be another one.”
Dothan United president and co-owner Steve Donner, who has served a variety of roles for professional sports franchises over the years, was new to the Circle City at the time.
He and Stephen Durham, a Dothan native largely responsible for bringing the soccer franchise to town but died unexpectedly before the first match, met with Schmitz in his car dealership office in hopes of securing a major sponsor.
What they got was much more.
“My goal coming to Dothan was to align ourselves with the top brands so it would help strengthen our brand in the community,” Donner said. “I didn’t know very much about Mike, and in the first meeting, he said, ‘Absolutely. I’ve been looking for an opportunity to be a part of something like this in Dothan from a sports perspective. I’m very interested in being a sponsor, but would you have any interest in me being a partner?’
“I’ve never had that happen to me as a first introduction in a community. I didn’t know Mike other than what Stephen had told me about him, and what a great guy he was and what he’s done in the community as the mayor and everything else.
“So I was sort of shocked by it. When I talked to Stephen, he said there was no one better that you would want to have in this community than Mike Schmitz as a partner.
“Certainly his reputation preceded him and we just hit it off from day one. He made it clear to me that if we were going to do this together, the organization had to be first-class … it had to be run properly, and that’s all I know.
“For a new team, you need a certain level of financial support to pull that off. Mike provided not just the financial support, but once he was involved, the credibility and the brand recognition with us and him was an amazing major first step.”
Of course, nobody could have predicted how the community would embrace the new professional soccer franchise in town.
“Our first game in Dothan, I was really expecting 500 people and thousands showed up,” Schmitz said. “I could tell there was something here. With the cost of living, what could we do in our community to have entertainment and have fun with our families? And we did it that night and we’ve been doing it ever since.
“I was talking to a friend of mine who has been a teacher here for 35 years and took her grandkids to a game. She knew nothing about soccer and had the best time of her life. How incredible is that for Dothan?”
The Dragons came up just short of making the playoffs the first year, but in the second season won the Southern Conference and made it all the way to the USL2 national semifinals before falling in a PK shootout to Vermont Green FC after the teams went scoreless in regulation.
It was during that match last summer in Burlington, Vermont, that Schmitz decided he wanted to be even more involved in the franchise.
“It’s like something really shifted in me,” Schmitz said. “After the playoffs when we went to Vermont, I was all-in, so I asked Steve if I could join him as co-owner and bring my experience in the community … and business experience. I think we make a good team.
“I thought that we needed to leave Steve to do the soccer job that he does, and then I can take off the burden of the business part of it. Then together, we can work in the community.”
Donner was more than happy for Schmitz to take on a co-ownership role.
“He wanted to assure us he was going to be there to help us to grow and allow us the room to grow as an organization,” Donner said. “Anyone who knows Mike knows he’s either all-in, or he’s not. He has been completely all-in with Dothan United and is a major reason why we are where we are today.
“We have three owners now – Mike and myself are co-owners – and we have Niko Foster, who is a third partner, but he’s out of town. Some partners, as they find out more about the business, shy away from it. Mike has seen it, has loved it, and has dug himself into it deeper.”
Schmitz understands funding a sports franchise takes a major commitment in not only running the operations, but luring in quality players and coaches.
“No one has heard of Dothan in the soccer world, so to get them here, we have to house them; we have to feed them,” Schmitz said of the team. “But southern hospitality is real, and they put their arms around these players.
“We’re No. 3 in the nation in fan attendance (for USL2). The people in Vermont were shocked that a team from Alabama was there. To have Mercedes and Coke on the jerseys … that was a big thing, I guess. They couldn’t figure out how we had that and why we were so good.”
Aaron McCreight is the general manager of Dothan United and oversees the day-to-day operations and sales. He knows having someone like Schmitz as a major part of the club is such a valuable asset.
“It gives us instant credibility,” McCreight said. “Mike Schmitz is a name in this town like no other. It’s not a surprise that he would want to jump on board with something like this that’s such an asset to the community, because he loves this city and this area so much.
“He’s very business and marketing savvy, so he’s interested in what we’re doing and trying to get people in the doors. Mike is a salesman; he’s a showman. He wants a good show for the fans, and he just wants the best for the players and coaches.
“He’s the driving force behind that to make sure our players are very well taken care of, because that’s what it takes at times to get guys here.
“This club wouldn’t exist without Mike Schmitz. It couldn’t be stated any more plainly. Without him there is no Dothan United.”
While the ownership team is happy with the progress the club has made on and off the field, there are more strides to be made.
“We’ve been really successful in our first three years here, especially on the field,” Donner said. “And if you look at our signage on game night, we’ve got plenty of sponsors.
“For us to be successful long term, you really have to have a total community buy-in. I don’t think we’re there yet. I think we’re moving along, but there’s some large corporations that are not supporting us. It just has not been a priority for them yet, and we ask ourselves why?
“Me being in the business as long as I have and doing what we’re doing in Dothan, I think we’re looking at a way to have the community understand what they’ve got with Dothan United. It’s something special.
“One of the things I would love to send as a message is, if you haven’t come out to a game, please do. And if you have come out to a game, bring others, because we have something special we’re building here.
“To maintain growth for us, you have to have more sponsors and more ticket buyers. I think that’s our next step, collectively.”
Schmitz is eager to see soccer as a sport grow even more in the community.
“We have a big, big vision of where we want to go,” Schmitz said. “We not only want to have a competitive and winning team, but we want to start camps for our kids.
“How cool would it be to grow the Wiregrass players to become Division I college players and have them come back to play for us and win a national championship. We can dream, right?”
Schmitz says without a doubt he’s in it for the long-term and is determined to help take the franchise to even greater heights.
“If we’re going to do this … which we are … let’s be world-class,” Schmitz said. “That’s what Dothan does.”
