In episode seven of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch podcast, St George City FA Head Coach and Regional General Manager at Cisco Manny Spanoudakis joins the show to talk about his role at Cisco, as well as his experience and philosophy in coaching.
As the Regional General Manager for the Sports & Entertainment Solutions Group at Cisco, Spanoudakis is responsible for developing, leading and executing strategy in the Asia Pacific, Japan and China region.
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Spanoudakis spoke about his experience working on a range of stadiums and venues across Australia as a part of his role at the company.
“I guess if we just focus on the Australian market, there’s been an abundance of projects we’ve been very fortunate to have great success with,” he said on the podcast.
“If I start in Perth, I guess, and work my way east off the stadium is a major project, then we’re just doing a major refresh there after the original opening in 2018, Adelaide Oval, another major customer of ours.
“The Melbourne Cricket Ground just underwent significant and is still undergoing significant technology upgrades, it’s a project and a customer we’ve worked on for well over a decade.
“Marvel Stadium, the Melbourne Olympic Park precinct, the VRC in Flemington, Kardinia Park and GMHBA Stadium and Melbourne Racing Club, so there’s a very strong, we have a very strong customer base in Melbourne.”
Although his role as Regional General Manager at Cisco keeps him busy, Spanoudakis still finds time to pursue coaching and currently serves as the head coach at St George City FA.
Spanoudakis reflected on his early start in coaching—once the youngest coach in the league—and explained how his philosophy was deeply influenced by his upbringing and his father’s passion for football.
“When I transitioned into coaching, I was still relatively young,” he continued to say.
“It’s funny because I was talking to someone the other day that when I started coaching first grade in the NPL, NPL 1, I guess, or whatever the equivalent is in Victoria, the NPL, I was the youngest coach in the league in 2001 and now I think I’m the oldest coach in the league.
“But my coaching philosophy and my principles were very much shaped by my upbringing.
“I listened to Ange and people of my generation talk about the influence parents and fathers had and my dad was a footballer, was a very, very knowledgeable student of the game, so that shaped my upbringing.”
To learn more about his role at Cisco, listen to the full interview with Manny Spanoudakis on episode seven of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast – available on all major podcasting apps.
