(Photo above: Mike Golub, COO for the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns presents Bend FC Timbers Board Chair Ryan Shore with an official Portland Timbers jersey at an event to help celebrate the launch of Build it Forward, a capital campaign to build a world class athletic complex in Bend)
Last week, the Bend FC Timbers youth soccer organization announced the launch of a $3 million capital campaign to build a world class, all season athletic complex in Bend, Oregon. The Build it Forward campaign represents a public-private partnership between the Bend FC Timbers and the Central Oregon community to transform eight acres of Bend Park & Recreation District’s Pine Nursery into four match-quality soccer fields with all-weather turf, seating and lighting.
In 2012, Bend voters passed a Park & Recreation District bond that included $1.2 million to create infrastructure for the Pine Nursery Community Park. Now the soccer club hopes to raise $3 million through the Build it Forward campaign for construction of the all season athletic complex. The campaign goal is to bring in the first $1 million by November of 2015. The date for project completion will be determined once the majority of funds have been raised but the target is to have a complex built before the end of 2017.
“There’s no question about it, team sports enrich the lives of children,” said Bend FC Timbers Board Chair Ryan Shore. “When kids move away from couches and computers and into the fresh air, they begin on a journey toward life-long physical and emotional health. They also learn teamwork and perseverance; the things they need to become our future community leaders.”
According to Shore, the year-round soccer complex will bring economic benefits to the Region with the ability to host large tournaments and events.
“The Bend Premier Cup brings more than 200 families and $1.9 million to the region each year and it’s the only major soccer tournament we host in Central Oregon,” said Ron Fritz, BFCT board member and CEO for Bend-based Tech Soft 3D, a global provider of software technology tools. “This one event draws families from Oregon, Washington, California, Alaska and Nevada. These visitors need places to stay, eat, shop and play. This facility would boost our economy year round, including during our typical shoulder seasons.”
The Bend FC Timbers are the third largest youth soccer club in Oregon with 2,600 members. One of seven statewide Timbers Alliance Clubs affiliated with the Portland Timbers professional MLS franchise, BFCT has been operating since 2003 on shared space thanks to partnership and support from Bend Park and Recreation District and local high schools.
Bend FC Timbers Technical Director Tara Bilanski, described the Club’s current practice and game situation as nomadic.
“We’re turning kids away because we don’t have enough year-round field space,” said Bilanski who served as head coach for the University of Oregon women’s soccer program before coming to BFCT. “Team sports like soccer, lacrosse and ultimate frisbee are becoming more and more popular in Central Oregon, and that’s only going to increase as the population grows. We want to be able to say yes to every kid who wants to play.”
Shore said he hopes that a fully equipped athletic complex will eventually bring professional teams to Central Oregon for training as well.
“We’re encouraging the idea of high altitude training for professional teams,” Shore said.
Last weekend, Mike Golub, COO for the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns visited Bend to help celebrate the launch the capital campaign. He presented Shore with an official Portland Timbers Build it Forward jersey.
“The Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns enthusiastically support the Build it Forward initiative. We have seen how new fields and facilities can be transformative, not only for the soccer community, but for the community at large,” said Golub.
In terms of healthy kids and healthy communities, public health research indicates that athletics help children develop the strong team-building and communication skills they need to become community and business leaders. An October 2014 report by Ernst and Young’s Women Athletes Business Network surveyed 400 female managers, half of them holding the titles as CEO, CFO or COO. Fifty-two percent (52%) of the “C-level” women had played a sport at the university level and only three percent of women in the executive suite said they had never played a sport.
“We have an opportunity to transform lives, strengthen the economy and build upon Central Oregon’s legacy as one of the nation’s most desirable places to live
and visit,” said Shore. “We’re looking to our local communities to help us build it forward.”
For more information about the Build it Forward capital campaign or Bend FC Timbers, visit bendfctimbers.com/BuildItForward or contact Ryan Shore at (541) 419-2557 or shore@bendbroadband.com.
