The Minnesota Stars open their season Saturday night at the Metrodome, in what they’re calling the Dome Opener. In addition to my Q&A with CEO Djorn Buchholz, I also had a chance to talk with Kevin Friedland, who does virtually everything for the Stars. He’s a defender on the team. He’s an assistant coach. He designed the jerseys that the Stars are unveiling tomorrow evening. He’s the Director of Business Development. Near as I can tell, there’s not a single thing that happens in Blaine without him having a hand in it.

Last week, I had a chance to talk to him about all of these roles, as well as about the Dome Opener.

Q: Do you prepare differently for playing in the Dome, versus a regular match?

A: I think this time we’ll have to, just because it’s turf, and typically here in Minnesota we play on grass. But we’ve been training on turf all preseason, so we should be pretty comfortable with it. The other side of that is that we’ll only get train in there one time, the Friday before the home opener. And I think on our team, I don’t think we have anybody besides myself that’s actually played in the Dome before. Maybe Brian Kallman in high school or something. So it’ll be kind of a new setting for all of the players.

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Q: Does the ball behave differently in the Dome, or what changes between playing in the Dome and playing outdoors on grass?**

A: The good thing about the Dome is that there are no elements. There’s no rain, no wind, no sun – so that’s pretty much a positive thing. I think you have to get used to the lighting – the lighting’s not bad, you just have to get used to it. And then just the surroundings. I think when you’re out at the NSC, the guys have gotten comfortable with the surroundings – having the beer garden at one end, having the tunnel on the other end, the locker room, it’s familiarity with the stadium. Being that it’s the first game of the season, we’ll have a bunch of new guys anyway; I don’t see too many problems there.

Q: You played in the last big soccer game at the Dome, the David Beckham game. What do you remember from that game?

A: That was probably one of the best experiences I’ve had in Minnesota, in my nine years here so far. I think we had 24,000 people there, there was really only three weeks to build up – I think they sold tickets for only three weeks leading up to that game. I’m sure of the 24,000, most of them were there to see David Beckham, but it was just kind of a great experience. It was very professional, the way the whole thing was run. Having that many people there – that whole bottom bowl was full. It was a cool experience to pay in front of that many people, and it was one of his first exhibition games. It was the first year that he was in the league, so it wasn’t like he had played in every city at that point.

Q: Last year was frustrating for you – only two appearances, both as a substitute. What are your goals on the field this year?

A: I hope to contribute more on the field. I think the way the league has changed, we’ve gone down to only three subs. We used to have five subs, and I think as a defender, typically you like to keep your back line intact throughout a game. I just have to stay ready, and if I’m called upon I’m ready to go. I obviously have a lot of experience in the league, but also being an older player and a coach, there are times where I have to put other guys ahead of myself if that’s the right decision.

Q: What’s your role on the coaching staff, especially if you’re also out there competing as a player?

A: In the off-season and in the pre-season, I take on a bit more responsibility. I help find a lot of the players that we bring in, though I don’t really make the final decision on who makes the team – but I have influence there. But my job is to get as many players to Minnesota, in front of [head coach] Manny [Lagos] and [assistant coach] Carl [Craig] as possible. Throughout the season, because of my familiarity with a lot of the players and other teams, I handle a lot of the matchups and talking to our guys about different players on the other teams and their tendencies. I work a lot with our set pieces and the matchups we do on corner kicks – who’s going to mark who, and stuff like that. It’s a lot of that. It’s probably more behind the scenes – then when I’m training or playing, I’m really just a player.

Q: You’re also a member of the front office. You do interviews, you promote the team – I even saw a picture on Twitter of you directing a photoshoot. Is there anything with this club that you don’t do?

A: I think at this point I’ve done it all. I’ll pick up the locker room, I’ve done kit man duties. It can be a humbling experience at times, where as a player I think you don’t realize everything that goes on to make a team happen. Especially with our size – we really only have six people in the front office, and two of the six are players. It’s something that when you’re just playing, you don’t realize everything that goes into it.  Actually right now as we’re talking, I’m in the basement at Planet Soccer, working on printing our jerseys. I think my roommates will tell you – I live with Kyle Altman and Neil Hlavaty – they see me working all the time, sometimes too much, but stuff’s got to get done. I think that’s kind of the mentality of our office. There’s so much work to get done – you’ll see Djorn [Buchholz, the team’s CEO] doing stuff that the CEO shouldn’t be doing, that you wouldn’t think the CEO should do. And so we all just chip in. None of us are afraid to do something that needs to get done.

Q: What do you do in your role as director of business development for the Stars?

A: I have a lot of responsibilities with that, but the easiest way to put it is, part of my job is to not just find different revenue streams – whether it’s merchandising or finding other events, this year we’ll hold an adult tournament, for instance – just different ways to produce different revenue streams. But also, part of my job is to make sure that the club looks as professional as possible, so everything we do from the outside, like changing the logo, how we look, how we’re perceived – that’s a big part. How our players are treated, making sure that they’re all taken care of. So it’s really just professionalizing the club from the outside looking in, but really also on the inside. Making sure we’re doing things the right way, and not trying to cut corners if we don’t have to.

Q:  What do you think your greatest success in that area so far is?

A: It’s tough to say. For me, I think one of the biggest things that will come out this week is these new uniforms. I take a lot of pride in making sure our guys are taken care of. I think players can often be overlooked at a club. But happy players make a better team, and it also makes Minnesota a better place – for years, Minnesota wasn’t a place that players necessarily wanted to go. Winning a championship helped that. Now, if they come here, and we take care of them – and there’s not too much you need to do to take care of players. You help them get the right gear, and you help them find places to live, and they enjoy the lifestyle – then more players will want to come play here. It’s really taking care of those guys, and keeping everything professional, so they can’t leave this club with a sour attitude.

Q: What are you most excited about in 2012?

A: Playing, I want to play more, I want to win a championship again. As a player, I’d like to contribute a bit more than I was able to last year. From the coaching side, just to continue to gain experience, continue to learn and help the younger guys become better players. In the office, the ultimate goal is to find an owner for the team. Trying to build this club up internally, so that we can become more attractive for an owner.

Q: Anything else you really want to promote?

A: The event on Thursday night – we’re doing a Shine On documentary screening plus the jersey launch on Thursday night at Brit’s… We’re doing something pretty cool with the uniforms for this year. I’m going to say it’s probably never been done before.

**Q: I didn’t know there was really that much room for jersey innovation left out there. **

A: There’s not. But fortunately we don’t have like MLS or a league that says, here’s your numbers, here’s your letters, and stuff like that. The creativity part comes in. I’m allowed to design the back of the shirt however I want. I start with the Admiral shirt and I sit down here with some of the designers at Planet Soccer, and we come up with something. It’s all about the details for me. The little details are important to me. On Thursday we’ll see. We’ve tried something – I think it’ll be a big hit. We’re coining this as the “Year of the Fan”, so that will show a little bit in our jerseys as well.