Front Office Staff

Jeff Burum

Managing Partner

Lisa Schafer

Director of Finance

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Jimmy Nordberg

Executive Vice President of Operations

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A native of the Inland Empire, Jimmy Nordberg graduated from Rancho Cucamonga High School in 1997. Attended Azusa Pacific University and Cal State San Bernardino. Played in MLS and USL for 2.5 seasons before getting into coaching full time. He served as the Men's Assistant Coach at UC Riverside from 2003-2008. From 2017 -2023, Jimmy served as Head Coach of the Ontario Fury/Empire Strykers. He is currently the Executive Vice President of Operations.

Oliver King

Assistant General Manager

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A native of the Inland Empire, Oliver King was named Assistant General Manager ahead of the 2021 MASL season. Prior to joining the organization, Oliver headed a sports law firm engaged in the representation of athletes at various professional levels domestically and abroad. Oliver earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of La Verne College of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts from Gettysburg College.

Mark Luetjen

Vice President of Corporate Partnerships

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Mark was born and raised in the Midwest before moving to SoCal in 1994 as part of a job relocation. He is a Graduate from the University of Missouri - Columbia with a degree in Personal Finance and a minor in Business Marketing. Mark worked for a national wholesale book company for more than 20 years, starting as a temporary summer employee in the warehouse. He worked his way up through almost every department and level to finally land as a Territory Sales Manager in the Southwest. After changing careers to a financial broker for a short time, he moved on to AFLAC for 8 years before joining the organization. Mark is an avid sports fan having played most sports growing up and enjoys the competitive challenge of growing with the Empire Strykers Family.

Ren-A Valdez

Director of Operations

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Ren-A is a native of the Inland Empire. She holds a Master’s in Sport Management from California Baptist University and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Redlands. Ren-A is a sports fanatic, she hopes to show her passion for sports, share her organization, creativity, and business development skills to the Empire Strykers. She is thrilled to be part of this organization and help the Empire Strykers as they #DefendTheEmpire

Cindy Cairel

Group Account Executive

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Seth Burum

Special Assistant

Media & Game Day Staff

Matt Tindall

Production Manager

Bill Norris

Team Statistician

Bill Norris has been a member of the organizations staff since the team’s founding in July 2013 and has served in various roles throughout the team’s existence. Currently, he serves in game day roles involving statistics and media relations. Before joining the organization, Bill had a long history of covering sports in Southern California, working for The Orange County Register, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, San Bernardino Sun, Riverside’s The Press-Enterprise and Patch.com. He is now the Sports Information Specialist for San Bernardino Valley College. Over the years with the organization, he has filled roles in web publishing, photography, media relations and social media posting for the team.

In recent years, Bill works confirming game day lineups, consults with on-field officials about scoring decisions and is the lead statistician. He also tracks the team’s history, updating the Empire Strykers unofficial record book. Bill grew up in Anaheim as a fan of the then-California Angels and has been a fan of the Los Angeles Kings since the mid-1970s. He also grew up watching the Los Angeles Lakers play at the Fabulous Forum (and still has bumper stickers to prove it).

He is a graduate of Cal State San Bernardino, and lives in the region with his wife and son.

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Christian Filimon

Podcast Host/Broadcaster

Christian aka “Filly” is originally from New York City and has been living in Los Angeles since 2016. He grew up an avid sports fan of all the local NYC teams. He was heavily involved in sports at a very young age. He has competed in several sports and athletic events all throughout his life and continues to do so. He is a graduate of Indiana University and has spent the past 15 years working in financial services as an advisor. He is the co-creator and co-host of Defenders of The Banc - The LAFC podcast, one of the largest run fan podcasts in Major League Soccer, aired in 84 countries with 100k + downloads. He been featured as a guest host on LAFC’s affiliate program 110 football doing both pregame and post-game commentary. He has also appeared as a guest on ESPN Radio’s very popular Weekend Warrior show with Dr. Robert Klapper. He brought his talents to Ontario, and along with his wife Amanda Filimon, they co-created and co-host Stryking Fury - the official podcast of the Organization. Filly has done work with the leagues MASL Insider show interviewing several players, coaches and the new commissioners. When he isn’t watching sports or podcasting Christian loves traveling, being active, playing guitar (he has been in several rock bands) and hanging out with his cat Schmitty McMittens.

Amanda Filimon

Podcast Host/Game Day Correspondent

Amanda “the Panda” Filimon hails from a small Midwest town in Indiana. Having grown up as a lover of all things sports related, it only felt natural to start a podcast where you get to talk about sports! She played Volleyball, Softball, Track, and was a Cheerleader in high school. After graduation she made the decision to join the US Army. She spent 15 years in the military, having spent a year overseas in Iraq from 2005-2006. She soon found herself in Nursing School, obtaining her RN, and soon traveled the US as an Operating Room Nurse. She currently works at Cedars-Sinai here in LA. She’s completed 6 marathons, is an avid cycler, and was once a professional cheerleader for the Arena Football Team, the Evansville Bluecats. She loves all animals, sports, and wine.

Jonathan Reimer

Broadcaster

Joining the organizations broadcast team in 2021, Jonathan is a passionate member of the southland sports scene. Jonathan co-hosts Stryking Fury, the official podcast of The Organization with Christian “Filly” & Amanda “Panda” Filimon. Jonathan also hosts Shoulder 2 Shoulder podcast, a weekly MLS show based on the football community surrounding the Los Angeles Football Club. He has made numerous guest appearances on popular southland sports shows including 110 Football, Heart of LAFC, FCFC, Defenders of the Banc and many more. Jonathan is a Certified Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers and has taught hundreds of courses on Wine, Beer & Spirits education.

Outside of his passion for sports, Jonathan lives for live music, the great outdoors and raising ducks at his home in Los Angeles.

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Jon Speier

Game Day PA

In his 7 seasons with the organization, Jon has seen his role evolve and grow from gameday public address duties to a position in the front office. As a representative of the Empire Strykers, He spends every week as a volunteer coach with the Rancho Cucamonga Special Olympic “IncredABLES,” and has assisted with sponsorships and brand awareness strategies. His public address announcing career began at Azusa Pacific University in 1994 where he was the voice of the Cougars for 10 years. Over that span, his voice could be heard throughout Southern California’s radio stations when Chicks Sporting Goods commercials aired. Jon has also had the opportunity to be a public address announcer for: USC Basketball, LA Dodger Private Stadium Events, and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

Ashley Kavanagh

Official Photographer

"In the world of photography, you get to share a captured moment with other people." -Ansel Adams

Ashley is an LA-based photographer who spent most of her childhood growing up in Ireland. In the many years she has been involved with photography, she has learned to appreciate the beautiful world and its many cultures. Through her lens, has captured powerful moments and turn them into art. Ashley is now honored to have been chosen to be the official photographer for The Empire Strykers.

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