The Inside Track takes a closer look at the names and faces behind Racing Louisville — from technical staff to the supporting cast running our city’s top-tier professional women’s soccer club.
For soccer teams to be successful in today’s day and age, there is more to it than what occurs on the pitch.
Enter Racing Louisville FC’s Shelby Gilmore.
Gilmore, the club’s Director of Operations, joined Racing midway through last year after more than six seasons with USL Championship side Indy Eleven. There, Gilmore progressed from a game operations intern to the Team Administration Manager in the span of just over three years.
“My job, in my opinion, is to come in and put my ego aside and figure out … what’s the best way for our players to get the best on-field [performance] from them — that’s always been my mentality,” said Gilmore.
Gilmore grew up in basketball country — Indiana — where she not only spent the beginning part of her career, but also attained a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), now known simply as Indiana University Indianapolis.
Her work for years in the USL Championship garnered respect from her peers, as Gilmore won Team Administrator of the Year in 2022 with Indy Eleven.
Gilmore attributes her ability to balance the diverse tasks at hand to an array of things: experience, confidence and adaptability amid year-over-year staff and roster changes.
One of Gilmore’s most significant undertakings in her position is dealing with “any and everything relating to away games.” That includes communicating with hotels, booking flights and overall dealing with all the planning that goes into making sure trips run as seamlessly as they possibly can.
From coordinating team meals to setting up transportation on site during trips to finding places to train the day before the game, there is a lot that goes into the behind-the-scenes work Gilmore does.
“There are things that are out of our control, but if I can do everything and keep it to a T, hopefully that means we’re walking away from the weekend with three points,” said Gilmore.
To put it simply, communication is at the heart of what Gilmore executes daily, ensuring that the players and staff have what they need to succeed in a variety of environments, particularly on the road.
“The biggest thing when I interact with players is just being as honest as I can. (I) learned that pretty early on that the last thing you want to do is overpromise and underdeliver. So, I’ve learned that being as candid and open as I can with players [is important]. … I’m putting as much work as I can into this for you, but I can’t promise you the world.”
Gilmore interestingly began college as an elementary education major. She quickly knew that wasn’t for her and eventually pivoted into sports management. Before taking the opportunity at Indy Eleven, Gilmore began her work in sports as an intern with Indy Fuel Hockey Club, a minor-league outfit affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Soccer, however, was a sport that grew on Gilmore over time. Her experiences on the sidelines and simply watching from afar have allowed her to gain a genuine love for the game.
“In 2019, during my internship [with Indy Eleven], they did a lot of watch parties for the Women’s World Cup that year,” Gilmore said. “And I volunteered at pretty much all of them. I think that’s when I really fell in love with the women’s side of the game. … I think from then on I knew that I eventually wanted to get to the women’s side of the game.”
That passion for the women’s game played a crucial role in pulling Gilmore to Racing last season. Amid all the chaos that comes with the position, it’s the people, for Gilmore, who have always made the difference — the relationships she has built, and continues to build, over time.
“I’ve really loved working with this staff,” Gilmore said. “I know we’ve had some turnover, but even last year and into this year, the staff makes the job, I think. … When we spend as much time as we do together. They genuinely do become a second family. I love the problem-solving and the hard skills that I get to use with my job, but my favorite part is the relationship building.”
