Lisa Frates

I’ve spent most of my career figuring out how sports, stories, and community can bring people together, which makes Hearts of Pine a pretty perfect place to land.

At Hearts, I help tell the story of the club and the people who make it what it is. I work closely with our players to find and share the stories behind the names on the roster, and with local, regional, and national media to help tell the bigger story of what Hearts is building in Maine. On any given day, that might mean pitching a story, coordinating an interview, writing a press release, working with a player on an appearance, wrangling a press box on matchday, or trying to explain why 6,000 Mainers singing together at Fitzy is something you really need to experience in person.

Before joining Hearts, I worked across sports, music, and the nonprofit world. I led the Bethesda Soccer Club, was the General Manager of Salt Lake City’s 140-acre Regional Athletic Complex, and served as Marketing & Communications Director at 317 Main Community Music Center here in Maine. I also spent several years in lacrosse, including serving on the Board of Directors of US Lacrosse.

Somewhere along the way, I earned a master’s degree in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown University, a program that also gave me the opportunity to spend time in Barcelona studying with FC Barcelona and getting an up-close look at how one of the world’s most iconic clubs approaches the business of soccer.

What I’ve always loved most about this work is the people and the stories you find when you take the time to get to know them. At Hearts, there are so many of those stories, from the players and supporters to the people across Maine who have made this club their own. Getting to help tell them is one of my favorite parts of the job.

I grew up out West in Utah but now call Maine home with my husband, our two kids, and Mystic, our Siberian Husky. Away from Fitzy, I also write and perform music as Lisa Hillary, and in whatever qualifies as spare time these days, I love writing songs, spending nights around a campfire, seeing live music, and planning the next great adventure.

My favorite thing about Hearts is that this club feels unmistakably like Maine: creative, resilient, a little unconventional, and very good at showing up for each other.

And after all these years working in sports, a packed night at Fitzy is still pretty hard to beat.