Meet Knengi Martin | Football coach & entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Knengi Martin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Knengi, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We wanted to bring a competitive professional women’s football organization to San Diego. In the past there have been some great organizations but they did not have the business side to back up a professional team. There was a lot of on field success but they did not drive awareness for their team or the sport of women’s football in San Diego.

We run the San Diego Rebellion as a business and we lean into the opportunity to bring football to women and girls in San Diego.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The San Diego Rebellion is a women’s professional tackle football team. Our goal is to give female athletes access to a professional football experience while providing support to the community through youth camps, equipment drives, and high school player mentorship.

From day one our differentiator was our ability to bring high quality live game action to our fans and supporters via live streaming. At the time we were the only team to do this and have set the standard for what is now a league differentiator and lays a path for greater financial success. The live game action was only successful because we had a good product on the field and that is largely due to the standard of coaching and expectations for player commitment and work ethic.

This did not happen overnight. We learned early on in our existence that we needed to vet our coaches for their football knowledge as well as their ability to coach adult female athletes. We set a high standard for our team culture early on that has allowed us to recruit and retain experienced athletes from all over the world.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Part of what we love about San Diego is that you can get so many different experiences all in one day.

Some can’t miss spots:

– Hodad’s in OB – you get one of the best burgers in the city and you get to experience the vibe that is OB
– La Jolla Shores beach – for one you can get a great sandwich at the Cheese Shop and two, the beach is large, accessible and the waves are always great.
– We are athletes so we of course are going to make you work out – one of our favorites is to hike around Lake Poway and up to Potato Chip rock
– From there we would take you to get some BBQ at Kiminski’s in Poway and if we are lucky we would hit it on karaoke night
– Another highlight would be going to shelter island and stopping for a mai tai at the Bali Hai (yes just one! It comes with a warning)
– For a more mellow outing we would head to Balboa Park to visit some of the museums or just to walk through all the cool gardens or if we are feeling up for it – a trip to the world famous San Diego Zoo

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to shoutout our brain trust / board of directors (Knengi, Katie Ott, Jess Serrata, and John Serrata) for constantly pushing our business to become bigger and better. And to the WNFC (Women’s National Football Conference) for giving us the platform to support a women’s professional football team by providing visibility to women’s football through live game streaming, merchandise, and global brand sponsorships.

Website: www.sandiegorebellion.com

Instagram: @sandiegorebellion

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/san-diego-rebellion-61201119a/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SanDiegoRebellion

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNwQX6_oYImvZGpmj0tIdnw

Image Credits
All images are courtesy of San Diego Digital Imagery (SDDI)