YBOR CITY — There's a long list of moving parts that make up a championship-winning franchise. Tampa Bay Sun President and General Manager Christina Unkel sat down for a 1-on-1 with Kevin Lewis to discuss the past, present, and future of the first-ever USL Super League Cup champions.
WATCH: The Sun stay busy building toward the future
On her discussions with Sun owners Jeff Fox, David Laxer, and Darryl Shaw when they offered her the president/GM position:
"I was like “Why do two guys want to do this?” And their response to me was exactly what I needed to hear, which is why I said yes. We believe women’s sports is an economic impact and does drive business. And at the same time it impacts the community at such a high level. It’s a platform to get into the community and support it.
How excited were you for the public release of the renderings for a new, Ybor City stadium?
"We always say we are for the community, but unless we do things in the community, then it doesn’t mean anything. As we grow and continue to succeed on the Tampa Bay Sun side, you’ll also see the success in Ybor and the Ybor region when we bring the stadium here."
How important was the strength of this inaugural season with regard to the team's influence on the young fans in the Tampa Bay area?
"We understand that we’ve been fighting for this, this whole time, and understand that the only reason we exist is because of the fan. Even if we hadn’t won the championship, our desire to give back to the community and to basically empower the young girls to say not just a female professional athlete but just a professional athlete for both a boy and girl - that that exists in Tampa Bay now."
On the potential for the inevitable roster changes that come with the territory of every professional sports team:
"In the referee world- maybe we say it in the business world as well, too, is control the controllable. And what I know what I can control is our ecosystem, our infrastructure, what we’re creating. One of the things is instead of comparing yourself to others, just do what you do really, really, really well and people will come."
Unkel added that outside players' agents are already reaching out to her about joining the Sun, and seven vendors have inquired about being the one to design the team's championship rings. Sun preseason operations get underway July 14.
“I didn't see anything"
Nine-year-old Leah Lendel and her family were enjoying a day at the beach in Boca Grande when a shark bit her hand. Over a week later, she appeared at a press conference with her family at Tampa General Hospital to give an update on her recovery.
