Marlon Mejia tapped for Titans FC CEO
Marlon Mejia, former Director of Operations with the Washington Premier League (WPL), has been named the new Chief Executive of Titans FC, leading the organization into the next phase of the club’s evolution, set in place by Adam Nowland.
Marlon has hit the ground running at Titans FC, taking ownership of the Titans Elite program where he will be coaching the HS girls Development Player League (DPL) team as well as the HS boys Elite Academy (EA) team. Years of experience guiding the WPL Surf Academy, coaching for two decades in Fla. And Mass. has prepared him for the challenges that await the Titans as they prepare for a higher commitment of play.
“I am honored and excited to be named the leader of Titans FC and grateful to Adam for his leadership and work to get Titans FC to this high level of excellence,” Marlon said. “Since becoming a member of the Titans’ coaching staff, I have admired the professionalism and dedication displayed throughout the club at all levels and the opportunity to have teams competing in leagues at a national level while continuing to develop young talented players at seven locations in a positive, structured environment is a commitment I fully embrace and needed to be a part of,” he added.
Marlon says he is looking forward to working with a talented coaching staff and pool of players that continue to develop, enhance, and advance each player’s experience at the regional and national level for many years to come. A big item on the agenda is taking the Titans Invitational tournament to a higher level making it a staple as the summer tournament to compete in for 7v7 and 9v9 teams in and beyond the NW. With seven years of experience with the WPL WA Cup, he feels like this is a natural fit.
Contributions to the WPL & Surf Academy
Having been with the WPL for all those years, his immediate task started with restructuring the Surf Academy. In his time leading the Academy, the program experienced growth in enrollment each year with 2022-23 having the largest number of players tryout as well as having the highest enrollment in player participation.
Marlon’s experience with College ID programs began back in Fla. and continued upon his arrival in Seattle. With his guidance, the Surf Academy hosted annual ID Camps at Starfire Sports providing an opportunity for players to showcase their abilities to over twenty coaches each year from each collegiate division from across the country. Bringing collegiate coaches to the players at a local complex increased each player’s visibility over one weekend as opposed to making multiple trips to multiple schools which not all players are financially able to experience. The relationships created and maintained with college coaches has benefited both, the player and coach, providing each with another outlet in the recruitment process. This past January, the ID Camp had its strongest lineup of coaches as well as its largest number of players in attendance. In the past seven years the academy has had over one hundred players commit to play collegiate soccer.
Along with his responsibilities to the Surf academy, Marlon’s focus with the WPL was on both internal and external communications and public relations. Additionally, duties included generating breakthrough ideas, trend-forward design aesthetics, and creating various elements, including rebranding, print materials, social media campaigns, digital assets, and broadcast graphics.
Years of Experience from Coast to Coast
Marlon, a Boston native, began coaching youth soccer in the evenings while having a professional career in the tech world. He began his technical career starting from the ground up as a call center rep and after a short period he was promoted to the role of manager directing global support teams. Marlon’s key responsibilities and priorities dealt with metrics, communications, public affairs, and strategic planning.
As his family grew, he felt the need to focus on quality of life. Relocating to Fla. provided the opportunity for family while also maintaining his role remotely for the Boston based company. Having two out of his three kids already playing in youth soccer, he took the opportunity to further develop his soccer coaching credentials in Fla. gaining his coaching licenses. Combining his management skills from the tech world, his soccer coaching credentials and his experience in multiple clubs’ structure advanced his knowledge of the game and the college pathway process.
In the years living in the sunshine state, Marlon was not only coaching multiple teams but was also a club Board member responsible for technology, concessions, and merchandise. He added Youth Academy Director for players 5 to 12 years old as one of his additional roles. The youth academy’s goal was to instill a passion for the game, create a culture of success through attention to detail, hard work and patience allowing each player to reach their full potential. He helped facilitate growth and experience among young soccer players having competed in top tournaments up and down the east coast, hosted ID Camps in Fla. as well as in locations across the country including Seattle. Marlon’s soccer network quickly grew proving beneficial for many players looking to experience collegiate soccer. Two of his three kids blossomed into high level talented players and gained the opportunity to play collegiate soccer with the 3rd being actively recruited.
After ten years in Fla and with two of the three kids in college, he and his family moved to Wash. for a new challenge, taking the position of Director of Operations with the WPL.
For the past five years he has been coaching for Titans FC in Puyallup, one of the club’s seven locations. In that time the Puyallup location has grown to 15 teams with more projected in the immediate future. The 2005 HS Boys team is the group that launched the Titans presence in Puyallup five years ago. Nine players from the 2005 team are preparing to graduate HS with two of those graduates continuing to play collegiate soccer; one here at Bellevue College and another at West Liberty University, a DII program in West Virginia.
Marlon now takes on the role of Chief Executive with Titans FC and couldn’t be happier. Titans FC welcome him to this new role and have nothing but confidence in his ability to lead the club to a stronger and even brighter future.
