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PERSPECTIVE

CLFC scout Ben Green unpacks his matchday experience on the sidelines.

By Charlotte FC

August 2^nd, 2023

On Saturday, as Charlotte FC matched up with Club Necaxa in their final Leagues Cup Group Stage match on the field, there was a different face on the sidelines.

CLFC scout Ben Green, normally sequestered in a booth high in Bank of America Stadium, was down on the sideline wearing a purple photographer’s bib, his camera and five rolls of film in hand. It was a wildly different perspective for the scout, but not an entirely unfamiliar one.

Once his film was successfully developed, we caught up with Ben this week to unpack his experience on the sidelines, how he approached the decision to shoot on film, and his favorite moments from the match.

First off, Ben, what is your real position with the club and what do your usual day-to-day responsibilities look like?

Okay, I'm a scout specifically with a focus on MLS Next Pro.

My responsibilities vary between scouting for Crown Legacy FC and building out that inaugural squad as well as for the first team for Charlotte FC, working to bring the best talent possible to the club throughout our player pathway. So, my regular day involves a lot of watching games, writing reports, cutting clips, meetings, discussing strategy about roster building, and then the occasional travel to see live competitions, matches, and tournaments to see players.

That sums it up for the most part.

You’ve built a lot of experience in scouting to be in this position today, but what is your past experience with photography?

Photography came into my life when I was playing college soccer and got injured. At the time, playing was everything for me, so I wanted to find a new outlet to essentially pass the time while I was out injured.

I had this old family camera. I had no idea what I was doing, but I picked it up and got in touch through a friend to shoot a New York Red Bulls II game. It wasn’t for any media, just for fun trying to figure it out. And it was awful.

The pictures were awful, but after that I was like: OK, this is something that I could be interested in, so I started to learn. I started to meet people within the space that were able to teach me and help me, and then I ended up doing it quite seriously for a while.

I shot a couple games for MLS. I shot an MLS All Star game. I shot the Brazil national team and the US national team. It was a really, really positive outlet for me at that time in my life.

My experience then officially ended after that point, but I maintained it for fun as a hobby throughout the years.

Normally, you watch matches from a higher vantage point, either in-person or on film. What was it like viewing the game from a different perspective on the field and through the camera lens?

Yeah, it was very different. Usually, I'm up in one of the technical booths, very stressed sometimes depending on the context of the game. To be honest, I had to rewatch the game the next day because I didn't really get to see much of the actual gameplay!

My focus was different as well because I shot the whole thing on film, nothing digital. I wanted to capture a lot of the elements around the game rather than just the gameplay. More to do with the culture and the environment to offer a different perspective than the usual gameplay images.

I think film captures that a lot better, which is part of the reason I didn't want to just be standing on the pitch the whole time. I did something like 18,000 steps during the match day and my lower back was sore the next morning, so it was definitely a different experience than I’m used to!

Throughout that whole experience of going to different parts of the stadium and capturing different moments, did you have a favorite moment or a favorite thing about the experience as a whole?

My favorite moment was probably at the end. I got a really good picture of Pat [Agyemang] and Pa [Modou Kah, Assistant Coach] embracing after Pat scored. It was a full circle moment, as I'm heavily involved with the college scouting process for us.

Seeing someone that I had scouted throughout college that we ended up drafting and then him scoring in the last minute and then being able to capture that moment embracing one of the assistant coaches...

That was a pretty unique moment for me, I’d say.

Do you think that shot of Pat and Pa is the favorite shot you got?

Probably, yes, but I also got a very good one of [Adilson] Malanda in a pregame huddle, which I really like.

He's extremely focused and I think it captures the pregame intensity of high-level competition really well, so those are probably my two favorite.

You've obviously had a lot of experience in a previous life shooting matches… Getting down there on the sideline and seeing Taylor Banner (Team Photographer & Senior Manager of Creative Media) and her entire photography team work, were you surprised by anything?

The whole thing is way more intense than I ever imagined. When I did it in the past, I could kind of do it at my own pace and didn’t have to deliver anything in live time, just by the end of the match or the next day. Seeing how streamlined and efficiently they work was incredible.

They made it an all-inclusive experience, too, by putting me in the content group chat and on the preparation emails. It’s easy to forget how much prep actually goes into it. None of it is an accident and everything is super well thought out.

I really gained an increased respect for how much work and planning they put into it for everything to be published in live time. It’s all so efficient and effective.

I mean, I was tired and fatigued at the end of the day, and I wasn’t even delivering anything in live time!

The closer you are to the action, the more you ride the emotional highs and lows of the match, as well. Did you feel more a part of it when you were down on the field?

Yeah, the energy is a completely different energy.

I was standing right by the VAR booth for the first Necaxa goal [that was ruled out] and I’m hearing Westwood’s interaction with the ref… that type of thing is not usually the type of thing that you're able to hear or experience from up in a technical booth.

Then, finally, here’s the only natural question to wrap this interview up with: Is Thomas [Schaling, Director of Scouting] going lose you to Taylor [Banner, Team Photographer and Senior Manager of Creative] in this organization, or you going to stick with scouting?

I’m going to stick with scouting for now, even if it’s just to just to preserve my lower back and my hamstrings. I’d like to continue playing seven-a-side soccer!

But seriously, it was a really, really fun experience, and maybe we can do a one-off of this every year in the future. For now, though, I’ll be just fine with scouting.