Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kristen Quintana. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kristen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?
We founded The United Women’s Fastpitch Coalition (The UWFC) because we wanted a say in how our women’s fastpitch league functioned. The easy part was agreeing on operational guidelines focused on running a cost and safety conscious fastpitch league, and providing an inclusive space that focuses on athletes as whole people. The hard part was establishing all of the business and technology infrastrcuture at the same time that we were recruting members and players. It felt a little like building an airplane while its barreling down the runway for takeoff. Finding the time and energy in addition to all of our normal jobs and family obligations, and making sure all of the right pieces were in place made establishing The UWFC an exhausting labor of love.
Kristen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
We are an adult women’s fastpitch league in Denver: The UWFC. We built a coalition, the cornerstone of which is a womens fastpitch league, that is also inclusive community. In the summer months, we play fastpitch games on Sundays. And throughout the year we stay connected to our community through various volunteer and social events scheduled monthly.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
All founders and board members met through fastpitch softball, and we bonded over how much we all loved to play! (Fun fact: two of our founders are sisters.) As adults we all saw plenty of other sports leagues available to us, but women’s fastpitch was hard to find. So, we decided to change that! We combined our collective professional experience and diverse business acumen with our love for the game, and built The UWFC.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Our inaugural year, we were a very small league. Fueled by excitement and just a few dollars, we worked so hard for months and months to establish a solid business infrastructure, excite our community, and spread the word of the UWFC’s inaugural season. While we hoped we would be exception to the fate of many first year endeavors, on Opening Day money was tight and team rosters were tighter. We held a game every Sunday in our first season, and that was a huge victory for a small league.
We know that it takes time to grow something great, and that knowledge is what is driving us as we recruit and gear up for our second season. We are very excited for Opening Day on June 4, 2023 at Rude Recreation Center in Denver.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://unitedwomensfastpitchcoalition.squarespace.com/
- Instagram: theuwfc
- Facebook: United Womens Fastpitch Coalition
- Twitter: @theuwfc