Alexander (Alex) Pama learned about winning championships as a product of the famed Dutch soccer (sports) scene. He was one of only three American born Executives in Dutch professional soccer.
As SC Cambuur-Leeuwarden’s Chief Executive Officer / General Manager for 5 years, Pama took his lessons learned from the field and applied them administratively at the sports highest level to help spur SC Cambuur’s growth into one of the most respected Dutch professional soccer organizations. Through his tireless efforts, Pama was been responsible for instilling the groundwork for SC Cambuur’s success in his five years at the head and well into the future.
In his five-plus years as the organization’s CEO and GM, Pama overhauled Cambuur’s business framework, leading to, among other things a near promotion in 2009 and 2010 to the Eredivisie, the highest professional league in the Netherlands. He emphasized the development of local talent and as a result, SC Cambuur now has the (transfer) rights to some of the most talented young players in Dutch soccer. Average attendance was a record high in 2010 and grew from 3,300 per game in 2006 to 8,600 per game in 2010. Corporate sponsorship sales grew remarkably during his tenure at SC Cambuur (from 800,000 euros per year in 2006 to nearly 2,000,000 euros per year in 2011). Merchandise sales went up just as spectacularly. From 150 replica jersey’s sold in 2006 to nearly 8,000 sold in 2010. In 2007, SC Cambuur established its own media corporation, responsible for all the advertising, television, radio and internet sales. Furthermore, the club was recognized by the Dutch government and KNVB as one of the most involved professional sport franchises in the community. In 2011, Pama resigned from SC Cambuur.
During his stay in the Netherlands, Pama served as an Executive Board voting member of the KNVB, the Dutch Soccer Federation. In that role he put his strong business background to work in preparing the framework to help the Local Organizing Committee try to bring the 2018 World Cup to the Netherlands. He also served on several other committees at the Dutch Soccer Federation and at the Jupiler League. Some of the committees involved were the sales and marketing committee, the advice committee for the Executive Management of the KNVB, future platform committee and Clubs/Player’s Union negotiating committee.
Pama’s career path has included both sports marketing and management positions at Randstad North America, as well as more than 20 years of experience within the sport of soccer at several organizations. He also serves as an ambassador for the Kika Foundation (Children’s Cancer Foundation) in the Netherlands. Currently, he is a founding member and owner of the Dutch International Sports Consultancy Group, based out of the Netherlands. This sports management company, consults several sports organizations/federations and athletes around the world. He advised the ownership of the Atlanta Beat of the Women's Professional Soccer league and owns Pama Sports, a soccer training and consultancy company in the United States. He also consults for the Atlanta based sports marketing firm, Global Image Sports. This firm represents several large European professional football/soccer clubs in North America, such as English sides West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wolves, Charlton Athletic, Fulham, Dutch side FC Utrecht and Italian side Sampdoria Genoa. He serves as a volunteer assistant coach for Kennesaw State University Women's Soccer program (NCAA Division I). He is a member of the boys and girls Region III ODP staff as well as a coach for Georgia's ODP program.
For four years, Pama served as Special Marketing Project Manager for the prestigious Clipper Stad Amsterdam project. A sailing vessel of Randstad North America and the City of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where he was responsible for the overall management of the project’s United States activities. At Randstad North America (the world’s second largest staffing firm, with sales exceeding 4 billion dollars a year), he was personally assigned by the CEO and Vice Chairman of the Board, to oversee the project and its activities world wide on his behalf. The 300+ ft. Tall Ship participated in events such as the NFL Super Bowl, Volvo Ocean Race, and MCI PGA Classic. Corporate partners such as ING, Philips, Deloitte & Touche, VISA and other major corporations participated in the project.
Pama was a part of the amazing growth of Randstad North America, where he served in numerous capacities both domestically and internationally.
Prior to joining Randstad North America, he played key roles at several (sport) organizations around the United States and the Netherlands.