Meet Kenna & RJ Watters of Nexus Youth Soccer League

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenna & RJ Watters

Hi Kenna & RJ, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
We are originally from the Chicago area but have been in Arizona for over two decades. We have been together for 22 years and we have two children: Raegan in fourth grade and Owen in second grade. A couple years ago our kids began playing sports, starting with soccer, and we were their coaches for about 9 seasons total in a recreational league locally in Scottsdale. As multi-sport athletes, we want our kids to play as many sports as possible before they get to that point around high school where they decide what they love and what they want to continue playing.

As our daughter turned 10, we realized she was about to age-out of the soccer program she was in and there weren’t any others that catered to older players in the south Scottsdale area or that offered a higher-level playing experience that wasn’t the traditional club model. We also really wanted her to play on a non-coed team and there were even less options when looking for leagues where girls could be in their own division. We decided that we could start our own soccer league to fill these gaps and so Nexus Youth Soccer League was born!

RJ and I are both ASU graduates and we have a small company called Fourth Element Marketing. He handles the digital advertising and SEO while I do the advertising design, social media, email marketing, and website design. We were able to build our brand, website, social media strategy, and advertising campaigns in house which is typically a huge barrier to starting a new business.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We have always had that entrepreneurial spirit, starting with an online training business that RJ launched back in 2014. From there it was project after project until we landed on starting our marketing agency in January 2020. We had been working together on several side projects since our skillsets crossover so well that we decided to go all-in on our own company. While we love the scheduling freedom that allowed us to coach our kids soccer teams and ultimately start Nexus YSL, the unknowns of when the next project will come in the door can be stressful as a business owner. We have managed to get by with a couple loyal retainer clients that trust us to handle all their marketing needs month after month. When it comes to this soccer league, it’s 100% funded by us because we want this to work and we know it’s what our community needs. We are currently in process to receive our nonprofit designation which will be monumental in allowing us to get sponsors and donations to support the organization so we can continue to serve more and more players every season.

As you know, we’re big fans of Nexus Youth Soccer League. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Nexus was started to fill a couple gaps in youth soccer: having separate divisions for boys and girls, catering to players in third through eighth grade when most recreational leagues stop around age 10, and providing a next-level, competitive experience for the players without a major time commitment. The way we do this is by having two seasons, one in fall and one in spring, where the players commit to just one season at a time. Each season has 11 weekly practices, one practice scrimmage game and 8 regular season weekly Saturday games so the time commitment is reasonable. Players are still expected to practice daily at home on their own to advance their individual skills. And then of course we have a division for boys and a division for girls. We also have female coaches for the girls teams to further support them in their athletic journey.

Our games are run in an official way so our players can better understand the rules of play. The two referees on each game are highly qualified with previous soccer playing and refereeing experience. When they make the calls, they take a moment to explain it to the players when needed. Parents and spectators sit opposite of the player bench which allows players to focus on the instruction of their coach. As league commissioners, we also manage parent’s behavior on the sideline: we don’t allow standing or pacing along the field, intrusive yelling, or sideline coaching. This standard is set early in the season and we have seen our parents really respond well and give us fantastic feedback around the vibe of our games. We want them tough, we want them competitive, but we do not want the negative energy that can be seen even at the recreational level on the part of the parents.

We named our league Nexus Youth Soccer League because nexus means “a connection or series of connections linking two or more things” and our league bridges the opportunity gap between recreational and club programs to players looking to dive deeper into the game of soccer. The look and feel of the brand gives it the competitive vibe that we want our games and practices to have each week. Our league strikes a balance between the “rah-rah let’s just have fun!” traditional rec/learning leagues and the hard-core “we’re here for the win and only the win!” experiences at the higher levels of play. We are competitive and we have high expectations: that players are dressed in their complete uniform kit on game day, that they arrive on time, and that they are committed to learning the game by attending all practices and games. We only practice once a week so that 60 minutes is valuable.

Our coaches are US Grassroots 7v7 Certified, SafeSport Certified, and background checked and they are required to have previous soccer coaching or playing experience. We do not have parent volunteers as coaches. A parent can apply to coach if they meet these requirements and if they are selected, they receive a free registration for their player. Non-parent coaches receive a stipend at the end of the season for their time.

A lot of parents reach out wondering if our league is appropriate for new players. We say absolutely! But with a small catch: they need to have some athleticism and they need to be ready to work hard on their own time to get more comfortable on the ball. Some kids decide later that they want to play a sport and we know the older they get, the harder it is to find somewhere for them to go. We welcome them with open arms as long as they commit their whole heart for the season. Two things will happen afterward: they will find a new love or they will decide maybe soccer isn’t for them. At our age level, kids should be there because they want to be there, not because mom or dad signed them up. That strategy works when they’re 5 or 6, but by third grade they start to form their own interests and those should be supported.

We have recently partnered with MLS GO which is the Major League Soccer youth soccer programing. We are really excited about this because we get access to their team-branded MLS GO uniforms, coaching resources, and their Play Fund scholarship program that provides 100% financial support for needs-based players. We are the first league to bring MLS GO to Scottsdale and are honored to do so.

What will really set us apart even more is something we are rolling out starting in the fall 2025 season. Each season, we will select players to participate on the Nexus Elite All Tournament Team based on their skill, leadership qualities, and their ability to work with a team. There will be two teams formed: one for the boys and one for the girls. These teams will practice together one extra day a week in preparation for a local 9v9 club tournament at the end of the season. Then for the spring season, we will do the same and reset the team to select from the players registered for that season to play in a tournament in April. Players have no additional financial commitment to participate on the Nexus Elite team, all tournament fees, uniform fees, and coach/field fees are covered by our organization. This structure is totally new and unique in Arizona and will give the elite players in our league access to club-level play and more opportunity to prepare for an advanced level of soccer, whether that is moving on to a club team or preparing for middle school or high school tryouts. To do this, we are in-process to be an officially sanctioned member of the Arizona Soccer Association and the US Soccer Federation by the middle of this year.

How do you think about luck?
When our youngest first played soccer, he wanted to play with some friends at school and we found out about it at the close of registration. We reached out to the league to get him on the team with his friends and the league said they could swing it if we could find a coach for the team. We raised our hands thinking this could be fun and who knew that a couple years later this would have taken us on this path to starting Nexus YSL. If you asked us five years ago if this was the plan, we would say there’s no way we would know where to even begin. And the rest is history!

Pricing:

• Registration is $275 per season
• Includes: Full jersey kit, practice shirt, licensed coach , 11 practices, 1 scrimmage, 8 games, season medal, tournament trophy for division champions

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nexusysl.com
• Instagram: @nexusysl
• Facebook: /nexusysl