When Kimmy Cummings was asked to be head coach of the newly formed Richmond Ivy SC, saying yes was a no-brainer. A longtime member of Richmond’s soccer community, Cummings played with the Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club as a child, had coached for other soccer programs around town and even played for Richmond’s previous women’s soccer team, Richmond Kickers Destiny.

What she wasn’t expecting was the wild popularity of Richmond’s new team. “Women’s sport is in such a different place than it used to be when I was growing up and playing for Richmond Destiny,” she says. “We had maybe like 200 or 300 fans in the stands, most of them probably family or very close friends. So to go from that to this is just incredible.”

The Richmond Ivy’s first season included two sold-out games and brought over 28,000 fans to City Stadium. “We had fans that were truly Ivy fans,” Cummings says. “For me personally, it was 100% about what we’re building in the Richmond community, both for young athletes as well as the fans.”

Whether coaching soccer or in her day job as a director of software engineering at Capital One, Cummings is passionate about inspiring people to be the best version of themselves. “At the end of the day, I’m coaching people to be better from day to day,” she says. “And that’s something that’s important to me, whether it’s on a soccer field or in an office. I’m still coaching people to achieve their goals, their aspirations.”

Looking ahead to next season, Cummings is ready to build on the momentum. “We love the fans that we met in year one and I’m so excited to see so many of them in year two,” she says. “This team was something special in year one and I can only imagine the additional excitement that will be around it.”