Who is Hearts of Pine Founder Gabe Hoffman-Johnson?

When perusing the Hearts of Pine website, particularly the front office tab, I was intrigued by Hoffman-Johnson’s page and his subsequent title as ‘founder.’ As most soccer teams have much longer histories or a more recently corporate background, I had never seen the term ‘founder’ describe someone’s role on a soccer team.

Gabe Hoffman-Johnson, Image from Hearts of Pine website

Hoffman-Johnson is a former defensive midfielder on the Dartmouth Men’s Soccer Team ('14) combined his passions for soccer and the Portland community in order to create the USL to Portland organization. Founded in 2017, this organization has been the primary reason as to why the USL granted Portland to be an expansion city. Hoffman-Johnson alongside other members of the organization, have worked

tirelessly to organize renovations to the playing venue (Fitzpatrick Stadium), watch parties, securing ownership-based funding, establishing a team identity inline with Portland and the rest of Maine. These efforts culminated in the official announcement in April 2024 that USL was indeed coming to Portland.

Hoffman-Johnson’s work has not stopped there – but it has changed. On the Heart’s of Pine website his title is defined as “Founder/Chief Community Officer” and now largely uses his role to facilitate the team’s connection to Portland as well as greater Maine. In a recent Instagram post on the Hearts of Pine page, Hoffman-Johnson is pictured with MLS veteran and Hearts of Pine midfielder, Mikey Lopez alongside Maine native Patrick Dempsey. This photo is commemorating an opening visit to the newest location of the Dempsey Center in Westbrook, Maine. The Dempsey Center is a cancer support center in Maine founded in honor of actor Patrick Dempsey’s mother, Amanda, who suffered from ovarian cancer.

Hoffman-Johnson plays a crucial role in continuing to facilitate community connections to the team. He does this trough watch parties – presumably for the Hearts of Pine and other soccer teams, in order to further the soccer culture in Maine. On March 22nd, a day after the opening game for the Hearts, Hoffman-Johnson helped organize a few players to visit Kennedy Park Pick Up Soccer. It is evident that Hoffman-Johnson believes that in order to create a soccer culture, or rather to further improve an already existing one, leading with community first is the way to do it. The team’s slogan is “Lead with your heart” and it seems Hoffman-Johnson is doing just that.