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Bainbridge Island
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www.bainbridgereview.com
Friday, December 24, 2010 • Bainbridge Island Review
Island resident steps into the world of an agent
Jeffrey Gingold becomes the first person in the
Northwest to become an agent for soccer players.
took his jersey from him,” he
said.
Gingold hopes he can make
There is a story behind
sure players get the chance to
every one of the estimated 50
make those kinds of memories
to 100 soccer jerseys in Jeffery
now that he’s earned his license
Gingold’s collection.
to be a professional agent in the
Each time he touches one
sport of soccer.
of them, he enjoys talking a bit
The license is issued through
about how he got it, the player
the
United States Soccer
and what they accomplished.
Federation
per FIFA regulaHis most valuable jersey – an
Alexi Lalas jersey from when he tions, as they want agents to
be licensed
played for the
through their
U.S. national
respective
team – is one
national soccer
of many that
federations.
was given to
Gingold
him by his
is
one
of 83
friend Per
licensed player
Pedersen,
agents in the
a former
nation and
striker for
the first in
the Denmark
the Pacific
national team.
Northwest to
Gingold
be awarded a
can’t help but
license.
laugh when
A lawyer
he tells the
and
sharestory of how
holder
for
“I
know
there
are
a
Pedersen got
Lane
Powell
lot of agents who are PC in Seattle,
the jersey.
“He scored
doing it right, but
Gingold didn’t
four goals
grow up a fan
there
are
enough
who
– and Lalas
game.
aren’t... so I think it’s of the
was marking
Born in
him,” he said,
a good time to get in Brooklyn, N.Y.,
referring to
and turn it around to he was raised
the “Danish
Plainfield,
the little extent that I in
Dynamite”
New
Jersey
and its 4-1 win
can do it.”
and also lived
over the U.S.
Jeffrey Gingold, in Florida for a
in the now
on his plans as an agent few years. He
defunct U.S.
liked baseball
Cup in January
(his head
1997.
coach
in
high
school
was for“Lalas gave him his jersey
mer
Brooklyn
Dodgers
pitcher
after the game – he basically
and NL Rookie of the Year Joe
By JOHN BECERRA JR.
Staff Writer
Black), but he also did some
cross country. Gingold came to
love distance running and ran
10 marathons in the 80’s.
He attended Washington
and Lee University to earn his
bachelor’s degree, then attended
John Marshall Law School in
Chicago to earn his juris doctor
in law.
But it was his second trip to
Denmark in 1972 – when he
met his future wife Anne-Marie
– that he came to love the game
of soccer.
“Her brother and sister were
really big soccer fans,” he said. “I
hadn’t really followed it much,
but they started taking me to
matches at the (Parken) in
Copenhagen” (to see then amateur side Copenhagen KB, now
known as F.C. Copenhagen.)
He saw several big wins by
the Danish national men’s soccer team at the Parken over the
years and was at the stadium
the year the team won the
European championship in
1992. He also took part in pickup games across the stadium on
Saturday mornings.
After graduation in 1976, he
moved back to New Jersey and
took a job as a judicial clerk at
the Superior Court of Essex
County for a year, then moved
to the office of public defender
as a trial attorney. At night, he
attended NYU’s law school
to earn his Master of Laws in
international law. When he had
the time, he attended New York
Cosmos matches with a soccercrazed coworker.
He also started playing with
a Peruvian amateur team in a
South American league in New
John Becerra Jr./Staff Photo
Jeffrey Gingold was recently awarded his player agent license from the USSF through FIFA.
Jersey and got his first taste of
what would be his future as an
agent.
“I was the token gringo,” he
said. “I think the only reason
they let me play with them was
because I was a lawyer and I
could get them out of the immigration holding cell,” he said.
“We never knew which players
were going to get busted.”
Gingold worked his way
west, living in Denver for six
years as an attorney for two
different insurance companies,
then moved to Bainbridge
Island in 1987 when he
was hired as the senior vice
president at Blue Cross of
Washington and Alaska. In
1994 Gingold moved to his current position at Lane Powell.
He stopped playing soccer
when he moved to Denver, but
picked the game back up after
moving to the island, and plays
for two different teams in the
Greater Seattle Soccer League
and rec soccer when he isn’t
bothered by an old Achilles
injury. He also became a Seattle
Sounders season ticket holder
back when they played in the
APSL and the USL.
Gingold said he always
thought of being an agent. He
gave advice to Pedersen and
several other players from the
Denmark national team that he
befriended over the years, but
had to pass due to his practice.
It wasn’t until he saw a
documentary called “Soccer’s
Lost Boys,” about unscrupulous
agents that extort extravagant
fees from young players and
their families with the promise
of playing in the big leagues,
that inspired him.
“These guys convince their
families that they are (the next)
Didier Drogba,” Gingold said.
“But what happens is they take
the money, they take them to
Eurpoe, they take them to a
few tryouts and the kid doesn’t
make the team. So they have
no work permit, they’re there
illegally. The agent doesn’t want
anything to do with them so
they wind up in prostitution
and drug dealing.”
Gingold recently found his
first player, a U-17 player for
England and U-21 player for
Poland (he has dual citizenship)
who is interested in playing in
the U.S.
He said he’ll focus on
working with local teams in
the Sounders and the Kitsap
Pumas. He also wants to represent players who want to make
it in the NASL, USL or MLS
or play overseas in Europe.
He also hopes to work as an
agent in Denmark in eight to 10
years. Gingold said he wants to
guide players who get successful
towards charitable causes and
work on a player’s plans after
soccer.
“I want to do this right,” he
said. “I know there are a lot of
agents who are doing it right,
but there are enough who
aren’t doing it right. I think it’s a
good time to get in and turn it
around to the little extent that I
can do it.”