On September 6, 2022, Alex Singer was introduced as the first ever general manager of the Houston Dash by Dash President Jessica O’Neill.
In 2007, Singer made her professional soccer debut for the Washington Freedom against the Los Angeles Sol in the inaugural match of Women’s Professional Soccer. The rookie defender earned the start for her club. Her task? Mark Marta.
“I remember that game like it was yesterday. I can feel the chills in the tunnel,” Singer said in her introductory press conference. “There's no better way to introduce yourself to the professional game then starting at the top. I was fortunate enough to get that first game and have a big marquee opponent in Marta.”
The defender went on to play across six different women’s professional soccer leagues, including a stint with the National Women’s Soccer League from 2014 to 2015. After retiring from her playing career, Singer went on to join Octagon. Over the last five years, Singer managed and represented current professional players, advised top female athletes and media personalities on brand development and marketing partnerships, and was part of the team that negotiated the most lucrative player contract in NWSL history.
Now, with her experienced background, she’s ready to lead the Houston Dash as the first general manager in club history.
"When this opportunity presented itself there was something in me that really did want to return to the league and in the front office roll,” she expressed on her decision to join the Dash. “You can see the commitment that is being put forward towards the vision that Jessica (O’Neill) was speaking about. And that's truly important to me.”
With experiences on both sides of professional soccer, both as a player and on the business side with Octagon, Singer is excited to get to work both on and off the field to make Houston a destination for players on an international scale.
She shared her vision of the team as high-energy, but also gritty and focused – traits that are already seen in the current roster today. Singer also mentioned a desire to push forward and an “anything it takes to win” mentality, which has been shown by the Houston Dash over the course of the 2022 season already.
She stated, “I truly believe that there's no ceiling here. I think we have very big goals for not only this season, but for next season and for seasons to come. And I think we're going to take that one step at a time, but we're starting off there. I'm lucky to be walking into a situation where we have a lot of talent on and off the pitch.”
Although she can’t make any rosters moves quite yet at this point in the season, Houston’s first general manager is focused on making the playoffs while establishing a communicative workflow between herself, O’Neill, Amoròs and the players.
“It's about creating an experience where there is a tremendous amount of trust, where there are honest conversations, where I am very in tune with each player and staff member individually, from a dynamic standpoint, and an empathy standpoint to be able to have conversations constructively and strategically,” Singer expressed. “When I think about things that I may have thought could have been better, it was just the communication - the communication with my own general managers or coaches or staff, and really wanting to have a better, better flow of information, better feeling of trust and empowerment. So for me, it's all about wanting to create that for the players.”
Alex Singer’s first game as general manager is this Sunday, September 11 when the Houston Dash host Angel City FC at PNC Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. CDT and will be streamed on Paramount+. Tickets are available here.
