Join The Mane Land Staff

Do you love Orlando City? Would you like to help The Mane Land tell the story of Orlando City SC, Orlando Pride and Orlando City B?

If you enjoy discussing any/all aspects of the club, you might be perfect for our team. We're always looking for contributors of all kinds (writers, editors, graphics/video folks, social media managers, etc.) to help tell the story of our Lions and Pride. You don't have to live in Orlando (although that helps), as we live in this wonderful information age, so if you need to work remotely from wherever you live, that's completely OK!

If you have talents you think might fit our team, please let us know. Simply write to us at themaneland@gmail.com and let us know what you'd like to help us with. It might even be something we haven't even thought of yet.

It is important to note that we do this out of a love for the beautiful game and these positions are on a voluntary basis. However, some of our staff have gone on to more financially rewarding opportunities as a result of their time with us. You never know what this experience will lead to. Like anything else in life, you're likely to get out of it what you put in.

Currently Seeking:

Highest priority:

• Photographers – With three teams playing their games at Orlando City Stadium, we're looking for additional photographers to shoot Orlando City, OCB, and Pride matches, in addition to (occasionally) various other events around the Orlando area. Build your portfolio and gain experience shooting professional sports in one of the best environments in soccer!
• Orlando Pride writers – We're looking for multiple individuals who can help track the Pride and bring their story to our site. Duties may include game previews, recaps, player grades & player of the match, and five takeaways from the matches (ideally one person for each of these responsibilities, which could rotate). At least one of these positions would get to cover home matches in person from the press box in the club's brand new stadium.
• Youth / Academy writer – We are seeking someone interested in covering the club's youth/academy system. This is an important role, as today's academy players are tomorrow's Homegrown Players on the senior roster. This position gathers youth / academy results, profiles potential HGPs, interviews coaches and keeps up with important tournaments and events. Just think, you'll know about the next big thing before it hits MLS.
• Social media managers – These contributors scan social media for content ideas such as interesting or unusual photos, videos, etc. They also may be asked to help with social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.
• Staff writers – You may not be perfect or professionally trained, but that's OK. If you like to talk about soccer, you might like to write about it as well. Writing staff members may be asked to submit two pieces per week on a set schedule during the MLS season and a bit less often during the off-season, or to be responsible for one particular area that you'll cover on an as-needed basis (i.e. USMNT or USWNT matches, Pride previews, Q&As, etc.).
• Video content experts – These individuals should enjoy creating highlight videos and working with the writing staff to snip game films down to illustrate plays, adding graphic elements where requested/warranted to help provide context and analysis to what happens on the pitch.
• National team writers – We're seeking multiple contributors who enjoy following USMNT, USWNT, and other national teams that feature Orlando City and Orlando Pride players (Canadian men or Australian women, for example) and key youth national teams/tournaments. These folks will provide informative previews, "how to watch" posts and recaps. We want to expand our coverage of the national program and international soccer in general.

Evergreen positions constantly in demand:

• Orlando City B writers – These contributors will provide regular content on Orlando City's USL team, OCB. This may include match previews, "how to watch" posts, recaps, or reports from training during the season. This may also include feature stories and updates in the off-season. If you've ever wanted to cover matches from the press box, here's your chance. Availability to attend training to provide full coverage on site is a plus but not mandatory.
• Soccer analysts – We're always searching for individuals with advanced experience in tactical analysis who can to break down why things happened on the pitch. Some college soccer or advanced coaching preferred. The ability to illustrate your tactical points through the use photos/video is helpful.
• Graphics managers – must be able to create infographics, charts, etc. and design all manner of graphics on spec, working with the writers and management team, to help make stories more attractive and interesting through illustration. Create interesting game posters. Work with social media people to create interesting graphics to accompany posts. Advanced Photoshop/Illustrator experience a must.
• Editors – Are you a pro at AP style? Enjoy fixing other people's mistakes? Can you spot a subject/verb disagreement from a mile away? An editor position may be for you! How often do you get to correct people without anyone shaming you for it? This position will edit copy for submitted stories, make headlines punchier and more clicky, and ensure the story has a photo that helps tell the story. Typically you'll only be on "desk duty" a couple evenings per week and fill in as needed for breaking news. You may also write stories as fits your schedule and take part in our roundtable discussions.

Our little blog became an idea and then an independent WordPress site in late September of 2014, and went live on SB Nation in December of that year — we think we've taken some pretty large strides forward toward our goal of becoming the best soccer blog covering an MLS team, but we need your help to take the next step.

We have designs on providing the best possible coverage of Orlando City SC, Orlando Pride, and Orlando City B available anywhere. We need more enthusiastic hands on deck to pull that off. So let us know if this is you:

We have an energetic and knowledgeable staff, including writers with tactical expertise, historical perspective, and a good sense of the broad picture of MLS specifically and soccer in general.

We want to add to this staff and expand our ability to bring quality content to all who would consume it.

We're building something special here. Do you want to be part of it?

This could be you!