Karen Swanner

Karen Swanner has an extensive background in soccer, as a player, coach, instructor, assessor, mentor, assignor, marketing director, and general manager. She has also been a pioneer for women over the past 35 years, as a soccer official, with 18 years of experience as a National NCAA official and a USSF National referee, which included assignments such as USA vs France, 18 Final Four appearances, PASL/MASL, where she has worked as the crew chief for the men’s championships in the PASL, as well as USISL, USL, WPSL, and MLS friendlies.

A local business owner in Edwardsville, Illinois, Swanner holds master’s degrees in Marketing, Journalism, and Sports Psychology. She has extensive experience in Sports Marketing, including holding positions as a Marketing Director in sports and at the University level. She has previously worked with teams and individual athletes to build their brands through marketing, public relations, and other promotional opportunities. 

Most recently, she developed a website called theofficialsmind.com, where she provides education and training resources for sports officials and athletes, on managing stress, staying confident, motivated, focused, and how to communicate both on and off the field.  She is also a researcher and published author on these topics, as well. 

A native of Tonawanda New York, she has two children who were both collegiate scholar athletes. Kyle currently plays professional indoor soccer for the St. Louis Ambush. Older brother Tyler is married and had a stint with the US National Indoor team. A soccer family, their father Jamie Swanner played for Clemson, where he won the Adi-Dasler Award for the top Goalkeeper in the nation and has had a long career as a professional player, including being drafted number one by the New York Cosmos out of college and five professional indoor championships. He has also had appearances with US national teams, including the 1984 US Olympic team and the first ever US Futsal team. 

Swanner has been successfully mentored by Dr. Lynn Lashbrook and has met all the requirements of becoming an SMWW Agent Advisor. This includes agent regulations and player association legalities, contract negotiation, endorsements, sponsorships, ethics, collective bargaining agreements, draft preparation, marketing, and recruiting.

Social Media:

 @KSwanner_Agent

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