Maine's Hearts of Pine (2nd half): How a Vision Became a Professional Soccer Club

In the second half of my conversation with Gabe Hoffman-Johnson, founder of Hearts of Pine, we explore the deeper story of how Maine’s first professional soccer club became a symbol of connection, identity, and shared purpose throughout the state.

Gabe reflects on how Hearts of Pine continues to be built “from the inside out,” grounded in community input, Maine values, and a belief that soccer can serve as a common language—one that connects generations, cultures, and counties.

We discuss the thoughtful intentionality behind the club’s culture, including the importance of recruiting “good people,” how team dynamics mirror Maine’s ethos of humility and hard work, and why fans from all 16 counties have gravitated toward the club with such extraordinary enthusiasm.

The heart of this episode is Gabe’s moving account of how the club found its name: a fusion of the Valentine Bandit’s decades-long tradition of anonymous kindness in Portland and Maine’s identity as the Pine Tree State, symbolized by the strength and resilience of the heartwood at the center of a pine.

We also talk about what elegance means to Gabe—his reflection on the “lack of pretension,” the ease of living, and the ability to experience world-class food, nature, and community all within minutes of one another. His answer offers a uniquely Maine definition of elegance: grounded, authentic, and deeply connected to place.

💬 Key Themes

The culture behind Hearts of Pine: why the club values character as deeply as skill, and how team identity reflects Maine’s work ethic and humility.

Fan magic: why every home match feels like a festival, and how the club has become a “third space” for Mainers seeking belonging and connection.

The story behind the name:

The legacy of the Valentine Bandit

The symbolism of Maine’s pine forests and the strength of the heartwood

How Hearts of Pine captures hope, resilience, and generosity—core Maine traits

Elegance in Maine: Gabe’s definition rooted in authenticity, openness, natural beauty, and “the way life should be.”

A vision for the future: expanding the club, building a larger stadium, adding a women’s team, and becoming one of the top lower-division soccer clubs in the country.

Episode Links

Hearts of Pine (USL1) – https://www.heartsofpine.com

Connect with Elise

🌐 Website & Listings: Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
📸 Follow Elise on Social Media:

• Instagram: @elisekielyrealestate
• Facebook: Elise Kiely Real Estate
• LinkedIn: Elise Kiely

Have Questions or Topic Suggestions, e-mail Elise at

• Elise@EliseKiely.com
  
  

Subscribe, share with a friend, and join Elise every other week to discover what makes Maine not just beautiful—but beautifully lived.

Please remember this podcast is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not create an attorney client or real estate advisor client relationship. Please reach out to me directly if I can assist you in your real estate journey.

Transcript

Elise Kiely: [00:00:00] Hi, friends, and welcome to Elegant Maine Living. I'm your host, Elise Kiely. As a global real estate advisor with Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Realty. I am fortunate not only to represent some of Maine's most beautiful homes, but to help people fall in love with this great state. Whether they are discovering it for the first time or seeing it with fresh eyes after generations of being here.

Maine has so much to be proud of, and I love sharing the stories of the remarkable people, those quiet understated doers, and those bold, active visionaries who make this part of the world so special. So whether you are here for insight into Maine's real estate market, or simply to celebrate the way life should be, I'm delighted you are here.

And [00:01:00] today We are going to have the second half of my conversation with the inspiring young visionary Gabe Hoffman Johnson, who executed on his ambitious and maybe crazy idea of creating from scratch Maine's first professional soccer club, Hearts of Pine. We are going to get into how Hearts of Pine was driven by a sense of community, and then fosters that same community by its outreach to everyone throughout the state of Maine.

We are going to dive in to how Hearts of Pine uses soccer to build culture and connection in Maine, and show how, as Gabe says, soccer and community are basically the same thing. Gabe, thank you for coming back in. I'm excited to take our conversation back up and let's start talking about the community and the building of culture that was so important to you as you started Hearts of Pine.[00:02:00] 

Talk to me a little bit about the team dynamics. You recruit all these people, not only from all over the country, but all over the world, Trinidad, Australia. Those are two very different cultures. Yeah. How did you meld the team together and tell me about the little bit about the team. Team dynamics. 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah, no, so a lot of these things are again, the sort of the coach's department.

I, there is a. I'm around a decent amount, and I think there is important pieces to, to build the culture and you want it to feel like a family. But it is their job, and there is, to some extent, they are competing to play and there is this friendly competition to it all.

But, one of the things that I love that, Bobby our head coach has perspective is he's he's been in this business a long time. And you know what he will say is, it's not worth working with people if they aren't good people. I don't care how good you are, I don't care where you've come from.

I don't, if you are not a good person and you are not put into what you are doing, what we are doing here, like there is no fit for you here. 

Elise Kiely: I want to say, I want to see if I can repeat that back to you. It's not worth working with people unless they are good people. 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Good people. Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: I love that. That is that, that [00:03:00] just sums up everything that you are doing as part of Hearts of Pine as well.

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah. 

Yeah. And I think, it's it is challenging still to bring together, we have players who have not played professional before who are just out of college. We have a mix of people who are, experienced and have, and, how do you get them to gel and how do you get them to fit in the system that Bobby wants them to play and play that style.

And all that is a huge challenge. But, it's also, and another thing that Bobby will share, like it's the best job in the world. they are professional soccer players. they are getting paid to do, to play the sport that they love. Enjoy that and, respect that and be grateful for that.

And show up to work every day. And so I think the. And the philosophy, I think that the types of people, Bobby's in charge of, who we have who we get and some of those pieces. But I do think what we, on the sort of ownership side are, have been very interested in is having the product, having the team play in a way that the community can see themselves in. And representing this culture and ethos of Mainers on the field. And that means, the level of work and there is this like grittiness and the, leaving everything out [00:04:00] there.

And that's there is this lack of ego and pretense, to, to who we are. This come as you are. But and We are all, Maine is the type of place where We are all fine, having our heads down and doing good work for the right reasons, but if given the excuse or necessity to rally around each other, we do it better than anybody else out there.

Elise Kiely: Said Gabe. Let's turn a little bit, let's turn to the fan base. Yeah. Because this is. Oh it's so fun to 

watch.

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: It's magic. It's magic. 

Elise Kiely: How did this incredible fan support happen so quickly? Because if I understand it it's unprecedented in the league to have every game home game sold out.

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah. Certainly in our league, in the league above us, it's happened I think once. But yeah, when we have more sells this year than our league's ever had combined, ever. And I think there is so many different pieces, right? And there is so many different tipping points along the way.

The work that we did in those five years, that, that sense of agency and ownership over this club that, that we have, we, when we announced the team name, there is 3000 people there. 

Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: Wow. Really? 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: So there, there is this, the amount of excitement and buzz for this.

And there is, there is probably a little bit of, this is the shiny new thing and all that. [00:05:00] But I think the way that we've built the brand and, the Soccer Club of Maine and, lead with your heart and all the different pieces of what Hearts of Pine really means and comes from, and then the, there is other macro pieces that like we had no say in, but I think the, there is this starving that I think people have right now for this sort of communal experience. And, in this digital age and chaos in the, in which we are living at the moment, there is this, third space that Hearts of Pine is creating for people.

And this, sense of belonging. Being a part of something bigger than themselves and this really seeing themselves in it, and then the game days are like it's absolute magic. It's a professional soccer match meets street festival meets farmer's market.

It's like a fair, and there is this collective community expression of joy. 

Elise Kiely: But the combined energy is so special. 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: It's incredible.

Elise Kiely: It's hard to explain and the diversity of fan bases is really interesting. Yeah. I think you draw from all 16 counties. 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: We have a season ticket rolls in all 16 counties.

Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: That's amazing. Yeah. And I, when researching [00:06:00] this, I saw the video of the oyster farmer 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: Who had the really tough upbringing. And boy, if you want to, if you need an excuse to cry, watch that video. 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: And talking about how his sons really said, look, I'll pay for the ticket, dad, just come with me.

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: And. What that meant for him personally. You can tell the impact it had and what it meant for his relationship with his children. 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yep. 

Elise Kiely: And it just gave him a sense of joy that was a really special Yeah. And I'm sure that's one of many stories. 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Totally. But I think it's, it is a good example of a larger strategy.

I think the, to, to show people that this is more than a game. And that's, the storytelling and from a marketing perspective, like rarely do we talk about the club. But and that story of John and his son, it's a story of intergenerational healing and humanity.

And and soccer just happens to be a piece of it, but a small piece of it. And that's, I would say, like on par with a lot of the work that We are doing is, how do you find something human, something Maine, you are telling a story of a person and place and Hearts just happens to be a part of it.

So that sort of sense of [00:07:00] connection that no soccer's just really just a connective tissue. 

Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: Yeah. I mentioned this to you one time when I saw you recently, I saw on social media, it may have been your first home game where you set up a microphone. And you gave a prompt for anybody walking by.

Tell us what you love about Maine. 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah. 

Elise Kiely: Who that, what a great idea. I love that and I love the responses. Have you gotten a lot of feedback from that type of thing? 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Totally. And we did a lot of those things leading into the creation of the brand. So we did all these town halls and listening sessions asking people these exact same questions.

And even down to the name and all of those pieces where we, people would say, Hey, I'm from Central Maine. I live in Portland now, but how does this club represent Central Maine as well? So the importance of, Portland and Maine are, they are the same Portland's in Maine, but they are very different as well.

Different, yeah.

Elise Kiely: So Gabe, I know our time is running out, but if you can tell us the story of how the name came about, it's such a beautiful story. 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah, no, happy to. For, as I've said, this is, project was five years in the making. I would say for the first. [00:08:00] Three. I had no idea what the name was going to be, and it's the first thing everyone wants to know.

And, when I would have sit down to have these conversations of, Hey, We are looking to start this thing. What do you think? The first question from anybody would be like that's awesome. What's the name going to be? And I'd be like I don't know. What do you think? And I had some of my own thoughts and ideas, but, I, it wasn't until, the Valentine Bandit, passed on.

And for people that aren't familiar, there is this really special tradition in Portland that started in the se late seventies, I believe, where under the cover of darkness on February 13th, these red hearts on pieces of paper would get plastered all over the city.

And it was an anonymous act and it was just this very Maine and Portland act of, spreading hope and love and joy and not looking for any credit and just doing the right thing for the right reasons at a time of year when when people need it and it's cold. And it's dark at three 30 and We are all starving for a little joy in our lives.

And it's continued to grow over, the decades and inspired other cities to do the same. And and when, when Kevin passed on it, it made national [00:09:00] news and but I think what, 

Elise Kiely: And Kevin, what turned out to be the bandit yeah. Or the spearheader of it.

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah. That, that sort of the lead bandit and. I think what I found striking was the community, like collective response to that was, okay, we have to continue on the legacy, right? And usually the, the pieces of paper, the hearts would go up for a few days, maybe a week, and they'd come back down again and you started to see them stay up and it became this ubiquitous symbol of Portland and Maine and Love and Hope and all these different values that, that we hold and cherish.

And it was just like, oh. What about hearts? And that sort of was a jumping off point into there is a, there is two other, hearts related soccer clubs in the world. One's in Edinburgh and Scotland, one's in Accra and Ghana. Heart of Melodeon is in England, or sorry, is in Scotland, but they go by hearts.

And Hearts of Oak is in Accra. They just go by hearts. And then the pine tree state and or the most forested state, in the entire US and started, took this massive deep dive into pine trees and fell in love [00:10:00] with this concept of the heartwood, which is the center of the tree.

It's actually the non-living portion of the tree, but it's what allows, the pine tree to exist on the rocky cliffs and survive during the noea and survive the winter and swaying the wind and. So the, combining the bandit. And the pine tree and the Harwood and Hearts of Pine.

Elise Kiely: It's been so popular. So well received, obviously. Yeah. And so Gabe, our time is just about ending. I have a couple of signature questions Yeah. I ask people. Yeah. Can I ask you, when you think about an elegant life in Maine and I'll start by saying, I don't think of elegance as formality, which fork to use or Sure.

What stationary. Thank you note. Do you write in? Yeah. What does Elegant and Maine mean to you? 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah, I think it's a, it's not a question I would use to like, describe myself, mine probably. But I do think there is a, there is an elegance in a lack of pretension in who we are as Mainers.

there is an elegance in the, the frankness in, in, in who we are. there is an elegance in. The ease of which, you [00:11:00] can do whatever you want here. You have the best restaurants in the world are, you can taste that here. And then within 20 minutes you can be, on the water or in the mountains or on a river.

And there is a, there is an elegance to, I think a way of living that is probably, our slogan is the way life should be. And I tend to believe that. I tend to think that's true. And to me there is an elegance there of that ability to live that style of life here in Maine. 

Elise Kiely: What do you see in 10 years in, for the Hearts of Pine and in Maine?

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Yeah. I've said from day one, I think that the goal here is to set a new benchmark with what a lower division soccer club can be. We are, We are bursting at the seams with, 5,800 people at Fitzpatrick Stadium every game day. I'd love to be at a spot where we have, a, an 8,500 seat stadium.

I'd love to have a men's team and a women's team, and I'd love to be just conventionally, if you are talking with an American soccer fan and you ask, what are the best clubs? What are the best run clubs? Who's doing it the right way? In American soccer, I want Hearts to be, a top [00:12:00] three, club out of any American soccer fans.

Elise Kiely: That's wonderful. Gabe, last question. Is there a book poem podcast that inspires you, grounds you? 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: Great question. Yeah, I think the. Yeah our deepest fear probably is been, a quote that's been meaningful to me. Marian Williamson is it's actually something my mother ev every single day as I walked out of the house for as long as I can remember the words that she would say to me was light, your light shine, and there is this real beauty in this concept of as we let, as I let my light shine as we let our collective light shine that inadvertently allows and encourages others to to do the same. To me, the getting out of, fear of, failure or fear of, am I really meant to do this? Am I, the.

To me, I think my deepest fear is not that I'm impossible, it's like my ability can be, is scary. It's, to get past that and to, to that sort of lack of fear. But I think the, that [00:13:00] letting your light shine is that's what the club is, that's what I try to do every day.

Just be the best version of myself and put out good out into the world. And I firmly believe that, that, comes back in, in spades. 

Elise Kiely: What a great response. Yet another reason, your mother's one of my heroes, 

Gabe Hoffman Johnson: I'm well trained. 

Elise Kiely: What a beautiful way to end letting your light shine and inspiring others to do the same. Gabe, that reminder captures exactly what makes you and Hearts of Pines So special. Thank you for all you're doing here in Maine. 

Thank you for joining us on Elegant Maine Living, and remember, if you are dreaming of a lifestyle in Maine or already living it, this podcast is for you.

Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. And I invite you to take this journey with me. Please share it with your friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. I would love a review and welcome feedback and encourage you to reach out with questions or topics you would like to hear about. You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or simply an email to elise@eliseKiely.com, and all of those links will be in the show notes.

And remember, this podcast is for entertainment and informational [00:14:00] purposes only and does not create an attorney-client or real estate advisory relationship. I am happy to engage. If you have any questions or if I can help in your real estate journey, simply click on the links in the show notes to contact me through social media or email.

I'm always happy to help in any way that I can, and we welcome you to come and explore Maine. Thank you for listening to Elegant Maine Living, where elegance isn't just an aesthetic, it's a way of life. Until next time, keep living with elegance.