Monona Grove Football Club will no longer receive a $20,000 sponsorship to help families buy soccer uniforms after it terminated the volunteer coaching status of Ashante Odogun, its only Black head coach.
As we reported last month, Odogun, a former professional-level soccer player in England and longtime professional youth coach in the US, was volunteering to coach her stepson’s team under-12 team at Monona Grove Football Club. She also joined the board of directors of the club.
She is also founder of Zinovae Foundation, a nonprofit organization that intends to make soccer more accessible for area families and youth. While fundraising for Zinovae, she forged a relationship with One Community Bank in Cottage Grove, ultimately negotiating a four-year, $20,000 sponsorship agreement. According to documents reviewed by Madison365, OCB would provide $5,000 a year to Zinovae Foundation specifically for the purchase of jerseys for Monona Grove Football Club. In exchange, OCB’s logo would appear on the front of the jerseys, and OCB would become the official and exclusive banking partner of the club.
The funds would have to go through Zinovae not only because Odogun had secured and negotiated the agreement, but also because Zinovae had 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, while MGFC did not.
MGFC board members have told Odogun and other board members and parents that it received nonprofit status earlier this year. However, neither Monona Grove Football Club nor Monona Grove Soccer Club appear in the Internal Revenue Services database as a registered nonprofit. MGFC did not respond to a message seeking clarification.
Text messages reviewed by Madison365 indicated that MGFC board members were enthusiastic in voting to approve the sponsorship.
Tensions rise
Odogun, who describes herself as “a lot,” brought a number of proposals to the board, including an additional sponsorship from Zinovae Foundation itself, as well as a proposal to buy training jerseys to promote team unity. The board ultimately did not approve those proposals, but board chair Marisa Anders told Odogun that Zinovae Foundation could purchase training jerseys for only her team. OCB committed an additional $1,500 to Zinovae Foundation for this purpose. In an email reviewed by Madison365, Odogun told her team’s parents that OCB would subsidize the cost of two training jerseys as well as warm-ups — estimated to be a $200 value — and each family would pay $20 toward the warmups. The email also said anyone who could not afford $20 would not have to pay it.
Odogun’s assistant coach and team manager Mike Stiller, who was also serving on Zinovae’s board of directors, told Odogun in a text message that the $20 would be no problem, but then expressed concern to Anders that parents were being required to pay an additional $20 for jerseys sponsored by Odogun’s own nonprofit, Zinovae Foundation, and OCB.
Odogun, at the direction of Coaching Director Andy Frisch, told Stiller that he was relieved of his duties as assistant coach on August 8. On August 11, the club informed Odogun that she was being terminated as a volunteer coach, and that she could contest the decision within 48 hours. Five days later, the club provided Odogun with a list of alleged violations of club policy, which included efforts to promote Zinovae Foundation through her position as a coach with MGFC. Additionally, they brought allegations of abusive behavior, describing two incidents in which Odogun allegedly raised her voice at players for extended periods during and after matches.
Frisch resigned in protest of Odogun’s firing. He and two parents told Madison365 that Odogun was an excellent coach and they saw no problem in her coaching style.
In an email to team parents on August 20, the board informed parents that Odogun would no longer be coaching the team. It did not go into any detail on the reasons for the firing, but added, “Consistent with our responsibilities and reporting guidelines, we have submitted a report—with supporting information—to the U.S. Center for SafeSport for independent review.”
The US Center for SafeSport is an organization that reviews complaints of sexual, physical and emotional abuse in youth sports. It has the power to suspend and ban coaches found to have abused players.
Odogun does not appear in the SafeSport database at the time of publication. A representative for SafeSport told Madison365 that most credible and serious reports are entered into the database quickly. Odogun not appearing in the database at this point could mean the case was placed on administrative hold, which would mean MGFC filed a report but there was insufficient information or MGFC didn’t respond to SafeSport’s follow-up, or that MGFC never filed a report.
Sponsorship redirected
In August, Odogun told Madison365 that she would be open to still allowing the ODB sponsorship to flow through Zinovae Foundation to benefit MGFC.
But according to emails reviewed by Madison365, the $20,000 sponsorship from OCB for MGFC is no longer happening, and OCB is in talks with Zinovae to sponsor a new project. Odogun told Madison365 that she will soon present OCB with a proposal for a new soccer-related project.
“One Community Bank and Zinovae Foundation are working together and moving on to somehting new,” she said.
One Community Bank did not respond to requests for comment.
One parent told Madison365 that it’s not just the sponsorship that was lost.
“We’re now 0-3 (and) the kids look absolutely lost out there,” the parent wrote in a text message. “The loss of Ziggy on the sideline is clearly showing on the field. As for the loss of the sponsorship I lay the blame for that at the feet of the board of directors.”
