Full 90 Field

Many hands make light work.

That was the mantra that fans of Seattle Sounders FC took after RAVE Foundation approached season ticket holders about the idea of building a fan-funded field as part of the 26 by 2026 mini-pitch plan.

The Alliance Council, a fan-organization which represents all season ticket holders, took a leading role in helping raise $50,000 for the field, which officially opened on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024 at Sylvester Middle School in Burien.

“The way we looked at it, no donation was too small,” said Duane Nakamura, Alliance Council vice president and season ticket holder since 2010. “We would take anything – 50 cents if you have it. It’s a wonderful feeling. It took each and every one of us taking the time and putting in the effort. I think everyone that is a member should feel proud of this project that has come to fruition.”

It wasn’t all season ticket holders who gave, as RAVE received hundreds of donations – both big and small.

Fans from all over the state donated and even fans from out of state got in on the action.

The Last Frontier Yacht Club, a fan group based in Alaska formed in 2014, heard about the Fan-Funded Field from other fans they met at games in Seattle and decided to get involved. The group is heavily involved with youth soccer in Alaska and the chance to support RAVE Foundation’s plans to build mini-pitches was the impetus for their involvement.

“The idea of having more public fields available and making soccer more accessible to anybody is really wonderful,” said Matt Rogers, founding member of the Last Frontier Yacht Club. “I’m on the board of directors for our soccer club up here (in Juneau) and we try to make soccer more accessible to all sorts of kids. It is a wonderful sport – it’s healthy, teaches teamwork and the list goes on and on. I was completely onboard when I heard about it.”

The field officially was the 21^st to open, with five more opened this fall to officially reach the initial goal of 26 fields two years earlier than expected. Because of the success of the project, RAVE Foundation recently announced plans to build 26 MORE fields by 2026.

“I’m a huge soccer fan and I have coached kids for a long time,” said Tom Eggerding, season-ticket holder since 2009. “One of the things I grew frustrated with is the whole ‘pay-to-play’ thing in U.S. Soccer. It is so expensive, it prices out a lot of kids that could be really good soccer players. That is one of the things I like with what RAVE has done – all the fields in communities with kids who might not have opportunities to play soccer.”

Fields opened in September in Spokane Valley, Puyallup, Renton and two in Pasco as the program continues to expand statewide.

To support the fan-funded field, the Alliance Council came up with different ideas to raise the money, taking a grassroots approach.

Every member of the council created fundraising pages and then promoted it on social media or by word of mouth. The group also collected memorabilia and held an auction and sold special posters at a game. They created flyers and other marketing materials and handed them out at games and eventually it all came together.

“I recognize the need to have these fields in these communities to help the children who live there,” Nakamura said on why he was all-in on the project. “And it’s not just the children but the togetherness for the community itself. I’ve seen it in action. To see the kids out there on the field, having it built for them and seeing pure joy on their faces to be able to play on this brand new, fancy field just for them. It’s amazing.”

Spreading joy through free play in communities is something Nakamura, Eggerding and Rogers all cited as reasons they got involved with the project.

Rogers has been fortunate to travel the world and everywhere he goes, he takes a soccer ball to play with his son. Inevitably, wherever they are and whenever they start kicking a ball around, other kids join in. It is a universal sport that crosses language barriers and cultural differences.

“I feel like I’m doing my little part to make things better,” Eggerding said. “It just feels good to give opportunities to kids to do team sports – it helps them learn to get along with people who might have different backgrounds, different political ideologies and learn how to deal with conflict. It’s just a really cool thing.”

And it took a whole lot of people to make it happen.