VANCOUVER - Mixing work with family can seem like a difficult, if not impossible, task for greatest.
For Vancouver Whitecaps FC chief operating officer Rachel Lewis, the task of balancing a top executive role with a big-time qualified sports team and her family life is about to get even more challenging.
Lewis, along with Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi, will take on the duties of CEO in the absence of Paul Barber, who publicized at a news consultation Friday he was leaving the club effective Feb. 29, 2012.
Yet even now, amid the chaos of helping run a Major League Soccer authorization and a young family, Lewis is thankful to be involved in a sport that allows her to syndicate the two as much as possible.
"I'm avid about all of it," said Lewis, a native of Vancouver.
"It can be stimulating when you have young kids. If you want to do it, you'll find a way. There's always a way to make it all work."
Her two young kids accompany mom to Whitecaps games, and she is quick to give her husband credit, saying the support from her "partner in crime" is a big reason she is able to be successful both at work and at home.
She also believes soccer itself offers the perfect family environs.
"When I started -- before I had a family -- what attracted to me was the quality of soccer," she said.
"Soccer at the grassroots level is all about family and community."
Lewis is adamant the Whitecaps will succeed despite Barber's absence.
"I had a great prospect to learn from Paul," she said.
"I've followed the Whitecaps since I was a little girl. Joining the MLS was the summit of what we've been working for," she said.
It's interesting to note her rise through the Whitecaps organization.
Through her work as sponsorship coordinator with the former PGA Tour's Air Canada Championship from 1999 until 2002, Lewis was loomed about a position with the Whitecaps by Lorraine Scrimshaw, the wife of Brent Scrimshaw, Lewis's boss and mentor with the ACC.
"Athletic is a pretty small community," said Lewis, an MBA graduate who began with the Whitecaps in 2003 as director of event management.
Before joining the Whitecaps, Lewis was subject to the professional sports humiliation of being a woman in what is typically a man's world.
Those days are mostly behind her. It's "very occasional" today that she face the old-fashioned obstacles she once did.
"As I've gotten older, I've realize that if you demonstrate you know what you're doing, people will give you respect," she said.
"In soccer there seems to be more gender parity ... which is something to be proud of."
Soon to be the main executive leader of the Whitecaps, Lewis is tasked with the usual day-to-day business operations and continuing to figure the trademark.
On the pitch, the Whitecaps writhed with a 6-18-10 record, good enough for a tie for last place in MLS.
Off the pitch, the organization enjoyed a successful MLS debut.
The Whitecaps had the third best presence in the league, despite their disappointing record and playing the majority of their home games at the temporary Empire Field before moving over the BC Place Stadium, where the club will play its entire home schedule next season.
"It was a great year for us ... our fans supported us through [a losing season] and I think we revealed our fans a unique soccer experience," said Lewis.
There is still much work ahead if the Whitecaps are to parallel off-field and on-field success. The two ended the season at polar opposites.
As a result, the Whitecaps have undergone some big variations this off-season.
Goalkeeper Jay Nolly was operated to the Chicago Fire for a first-round pick in the 2013 MLS supplemental draft, while midfielder Shea Salinas was shipped to San Jose.
Jeb Brovsky was picked up by the Montreal Impact in last month's MLS contraction draft, and Nizar Khalfan, and Bilal Duckett were waived.
Meanwhile the Whitecaps made a major splash last week with the signing of Young-Pyo Lee, a South Korean defender with "celebrity status" in his homeland, said Lewis.
"Vancouver is a very multiethnic community and we didn't antedate the kind of reaction we got when we signed Lee," said Lewis.
While pleasure in this city over the Whitecaps and MLS is still fairly raw, Lewis said the society knows it must produce a winning product in order to attract new fans and keep old ones.
"Obviously we need to get well on the field."
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