The State of Soccer: Oregon Part 3

This is the third article in a series on Oregon soccer. For the other two articles, check out part 1, which focuses on Timbers U23, and part 2, which focuses on Lane United.

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Soccer is the most-participated youth sport in Oregon; in addition to the normal parks and rec leagues, there are, of course the pay-to-play youth soccer clubs—but born from those youth organizations are players and coaches who want to provide an opportunity to play soccer at a competitive level for those who are no longer in a position to participate in youth leagues. These squads are popping up all over Oregon, some join national leagues like NPSL or UPSL, while others stay in regional leagues like the GPSD (Greater Portland Soccer District). Recently, FCM Portland, of the NPSL, qualified for the first round of the US Open Cup while IPS FC, previously of the OPSL (Oregon Premier Soccer League) and now in the GPSD, nearly earned their way into the USOC’s first round, by winning multiple times in the qualifying rounds.

There are very strong squads in Oregon’s grassroots ranks, largely consisting of players from the Pacific Northwest; whether born here or transplanted as college students. Nearly all of the players on PDX FC’s side are made up from student-athletes from Universities all over Oregon and Washington. The coaches and owners of all of these sides have, for the most part, gone through the same experiences and are now dedicating their time to helping along soccer players from all walks of life pursue their passion of playing the sport a high caliber. An Oregonian sports institution, Oregon SportsBeat wants to provide opportunity as well and have created the Oregon Open Cup. In its inaugural year, the Cup has drawn together four teams who represent Oregonian grassroots soccer and pitted them against one another in a single-elimination tournament. To get the whole picture, we reached out to Ryan Johnson, the organizer of the Cup and voice of Oregon SportsBeat.

IPS FC, led by long-time coach Harvey Hurst, recently faced NPSL side Academica SC from Turlock, CA in the US Open Cup qualifiers.

How long has Oregon Sports Beat been covering local soccer? What else do you cover and what is your organization's mission?

SportsBeat started in 2012 as cable TV show in Portland. I hosted, and my guests were coaches from local sports programs. Harvey Hurst, who was the coach for my IPS over-30 team, was the first guest on the TV show. We started streaming all sports, including soccer, in 2014. We now cover select high school soccer programs and men's amateur teams. SportsBeat's mission is to promote local teams and players.

This is the inaugural Cup; when did you first think about putting together an Oregon Open Cup? What was the motivation?

The inspiration for this tournament format came from the 2012 US Open Cup, when a semi-pro side Cal FC went through a number of professional teams as they advanced in that year's tournament. I saw their game against the Portland Timbers, and remember being very impressed with how passionately they played. I decided to start the tournament this year because I blew out my knee the first game of the spring season, which abruptly ended my playing career. Since then I've had extra time on my hands, and when I put out the idea in front of a few knowledgeable people, they got behind it right away. I knew with the right team in place we could make it happen.

The Johnston Cup, a precursor to the Oregon Open Cup; maintained by Oregon SportsBeat.

How did you decide on the number of teams involved and what's in it for them to participate? Are there any additional sponsors contributing? Is there a physical cup or trophy?

It started out as an idea to play just 1 game this year- featuring 2 top finishers in local leagues- and grow the tournament in year 2. But as the idea spread it was clear we could make a high-quality field of four teams. The focus this year has been getting high quality teams into the tournament who would be available on relatively short notice, as planning for this year's tournament didn't start until mid-June when the rest of my spring sports were finished. The last tournament of this kind was called the Johnston Cup, which ended in 1989.

PDX FC, FCM Portland, IPS FC, and TFA Willamette U23s... what would it take to add Starphire from Southern Oregon, Lane United from Eugene, Farewell FC from Bend, etc... next year? It makes the tournament longer, but does that come with more organizational issues?

There are plans to expand the tournament next year. There will likely be qualifying to get into the final eight, and yes of course Starphire, Lane, Farewell and whoever else is welcome to try and qualify, if they are not already an automatic qualifier. It costs $500 to get in the tournament, and there is a cash prize for the winner. The prize amount is modest this year but will grow as the tournament develops.

Lane United of USL League 2 vs Southern Oregon Starphire of UPSL; both welcome to apply for the Oregon Open Cup in 2020.

Where are the matches? What does it cost to get in and do you need any volunteers? If folks can't get there, how can they watch the match; will it be streamed? And if we miss it, can we catch it later in the weekend?

We aim to have all games take place on soccer specific, high-quality grass fields. We aren't able to always get this, but that will continue to be a goal. All games will be streamed live on OregonSportsBeat.com, free to view live and on-demand.

Interest in women's soccer is at its peak right now, what would it take for Oregon Sports Beat to organize a similar women's amateur cup for Oregonian teams? Volunteers? Sponsors?

This tournament has an experienced team of people getting behind a good idea, and that's what’s pushing it forward. I'd love to see the women's side have the same opportunity.

- Joshua Duder

Both FC Mulhouse Portland and PDX FC of the NPSL are in the Cup – the two sides are… familiar with each other.

Oregon SportsBeat has provided links to their broadcasts and tournament information.

Link to all live game broadcasts

Link to tournament info

For more information about FCMP

For more information about IPS FC

For more information about PDX FC

TFA Willamette U23s play their soccer throughout the Central Willamette Valley – “Total Football Academy” have the pedigree to be competitive, to catch the Athleticos vs PDX FC, be sure to follow the Oregon SportsBeat links above.

The State of Soccer: Oregon Part 2

This is the second article in a series on Oregon soccer. For the other two articles, check out part 1, which focuses on Timbers U23, and part 3, which focuses on the Oregon Open Cup.

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Eugene, Oregon, the well-known home base for hippies as well as the collegiate grid-iron Ducks of the University of Oregon. Home to extensive wide-open spaces; just hours away from skiing in the Cascades at Mt. Bachelor, or an hour the other direction to site-seeing or even surfing in the Pacific Ocean. Located at the southern-most end of the Willamette Valley, Eugene and its neighbor city, Springfield, have an estimated combined population of 230,000 residents, which is the bulk of the folks living in Lane County. While soccer has always been a popular sport for the kids to play, outside of a popular indoor culture for adult participation, there has not been an actual resident soccer team to root for, professional or otherwise.

It isn’t as though there aren’t soccer fans in Eugene or Springfield, or that those soccer fans completely missed the Soccer City USA madness and fanaticism of the NASL’s Portland Timbers in the heady days of flash 70’s soccer. Or even the reincarnation of the Timbers as, first an A-League team, then a member of the USL, and finally as one of the most exciting teams in Major League Soccer. No, nobody missed that—its just that Lane County is 110 miles south of Portland and if you’re a fan, you might make a pilgrimage, but you’ll probably watch it on TV—you’ll probably watch a lot of soccer on TV. Nobody thought to put a team in the middle of god’s country, but that all changed in 2013 when the Galas brothers wanted to translate the existing soccer culture, into a fanbase and save a landmark building simultaneously. We reached out to Dave Galas, owner of Lane United FC, to get the story on the birth of a soccer team in Eugene/Springfield and to the Timbers Army regional supporter’s group, Echo Squadron, about multi-tasking which soccer teams to support.

Eugene’s Civic Stadium, built in 1938, was home to Lane United after they led efforts to restore it in 2013—it sadly burned down just two years later.

How did Lane United come to be: when were you founded, but also, why was the club started?

We have a great soccer culture here, so I always thought a team would do well, but no one had tried it. I had never considered trying it myself, but I reached out to some of the people who were trying to save Civic Stadium from becoming a big box store to see if I could help. I was told that they really had a chicken/egg problem. They were convinced they could save the stadium if they had a team to play there, but they couldn’t get a team to move here without having a stadium secured.

My brother, John, has been in soccer his whole professional life, so I picked his brain a bit. We decided on a name, I worked on some logo ideas, ran them past designer friends of mine, floated the idea to some soccer friends of mine, got a small sponsorship, passed the hat in the community, and the next thing I knew I had successfully demonstrated to a few local people that there was enough interest and support to invest in the club. I then went about getting our investors vetted by the PDL and tried to get an exhibition match set up. On July 18, 2013, we were unveiled as a new PDL franchise, and played an exhibition match against the Timbers U-23s. We lost 3-0.

Had there been a club in your area before? What's the soccer scene in Eugene / Springfield like? Mostly youth and college players, or is there a larger soccer culture as well? Fans of overseas clubs looking for a place to put their hearts locally?

The closest thing we had to what Lane United is was an OPSL team run by the youth club that is now the Timbers’ Affiliate here in Eugene. There is a thriving soccer scene here with indoor leagues, city leagues, an Over 35 league that we run, two competitive youth clubs, a few rec clubs, the UO women’s team, and due to the university, a vibrant international community heavily invested in viewing parties, pickup games, etc. We also have one of the best supported TA Regional Supporters’ Groups in the Echo Squad.

Friends and Rivals from the very first—Lane United hosted Timbers U23s in a friendly before they ever played a meaningful league match (Photo: Northwest Sports Pic, 2013).

Are you associated with any local youth programs? Where does the club draw its players from? A lot of teams at this level of soccer are nearly dependent upon college students to fill out a roster, but are there any players who have come up through a development system? Any non-collegiate players who are just amazing local-talent and made the squad?

Not formally. We do have good relationships with the youth clubs in town, and have players and coaches who are involved with them. We do rely heavily on college players, but we also pull internationally. At first, John and I were traveling to Spain and staging tryouts, but in the last five years or so we have seen a pretty dramatic rise in the number of internationals playing at the college level here. If you look at All-Conference lists, All-American lists, etc. it is now not uncommon to have seven or eight of the eleven be internationals. That’s nice, since that usually means the players have had a bit more cultural acclimatization time and have had to work on their English a bit more. The problem, of course, is that we run up against the limit of international players we can carry in the squad.

We do have a strong local talent pool, most of whom do play in college and we try to bring them home to play for us. We are also always pleasantly surprised by guys who go through the tryout process and earn a spot on the team that way.

Your club has helped quite a few players make it to the professional ranks in the last few years. Is this the goal of the organization? Are there any players who have moved on which stand out in particular?

That is a part of our organization we are very proud of. This year we had five former players drafted in the Super draft in Chicago, three of whom have been signed and the other two look like they will be signed at the USL Championship level. They join a pretty long list of players who have gone on to sign pro contracts, which all started with Khiry Shelton who was the second overall pick in the 2015 draft and has recently moved to Bundesliga 2.

We are very proud of our track record in that regard, but our goal is move up to USL league One and sign some of those players ourselves.

Lane United have regularly played some of the most historic clubs in the Pacific Northwest (Home vs Kitsap Pumas here) and come out on top—developing class players in the process.

Lane United also seemed to move their coach into a higher level of soccer. John Galas has moved on to coach for FC Tucson. Who is your new coach and how important is coaching development in addition to player development?

Club culture is huge for us. John had a key role in developing that on the field with our style of play and how we approach the game, so when he moved to Tucson, it didn’t take me long to decide that moving Conner Cappelletti up from Assistant to Head Coach was the right move. Conner has been with us literally from day one - he played in that first ever game against the Timbers U-23s - and rewarding him for the time he’s put in made sense, as did the opportunity to continue uninterrupted down the same path in terms of philosophy, culture, operations, etc.

As we grow, and hopefully move up to USL League One, we’d like to keep the League Two team, not just to get the aforementioned players into the system with hopes of signing them down the road, but to provide a similar incubator for coaches.

Some clubs love to bring in teams from other leagues for friendlies; sometimes this is to provide competitive matches to the squad, sometimes it’s to draw a crowd. Do you have plans for matches with clubs outside your league?

As you know, in our corner of the world there are a ton of teams participating in a ton of leagues. The levels of professionalism vary greatly, but while it is my hope that before my time on this planet is up, we might see a unified national soccer structure, I am keen to support clubs who share a passion for the game and an honest, professional approach toward how they manage things. Therefore, we are always trying to arrange friendlies with the top clubs in the region, regardless of what leagues they may compete in.

Lane United manage to sneak in friendlies with clubs from other leagues during their packed USL League-2 fixtures list.

What match or matches is the club most looking forward to? Do you have a rival? Do other clubs in Oregon pose a rivalry, or do you view them as friendly competition?

League opener and home opener are the two I look forward to most every year. It’s a short but intense season, and this time of year we are so busy getting things in place, that by the time the opener arrives, it means all the other work is done and we get to focus more on the competition. We also have a pretty good record on opening day, 3-1-1, which always helps. From an operations standpoint the home opener is huge, so getting that out of the way is always a major milestone.

With the number of MLS Timbers fans in our area, of course they love to hate the Sounders, but our biggest rival has to be the Timbers U-23s. That team moving to Salem just brought things a little closer and made things a bit more intense. There is rumor of some sort of rivalry trophy this year as well.

From a front office standpoint, we are truly blessed here in the NW Division. Every club helps every other club with whatever needs to be done for us to succeed. It’s one thing to focus on your club, but in this business you’re only as strong as the league you’re in, and the NW Division of USL League Two is as strong as it gets, on and off the pitch.

USL League 2 offers a high standard of competition and teams as far away as Calgary, Alberta in Canada travel down to take on the Reds of Lane County, Oregon.

In a state so tied-in to its soccer, its not surprising that the Reds have a dedicated supporter’s group—it seems to come with the territory. Echo Squadron are a Timbers Army regional supporters’ group, but also recognize the need to nurture and support your local club, especially when trips to see the Timbers are full-weekend events; traveling several hours north to the Rose City and then back again. To get a better idea of how and why Echo Squadron do what they do, and where they got started, I reached out to Adam Smith, current Board President of Red Aces—the Lane United Supporters Group side of the soccer support in Lane County.

Tell me how the Red Aces got their start? Are they a member of the ISC (Independent Supporters Trust)?

We are not officially part of any ISC, although that has been discussed. We are just not quite sure what advantages (or criticisms) a move like that would bring. At this point, our season is so short that we just want to get out there and max out our 10-week season, you know?

How many members do you have and are you active in the community? Any current community efforts you want to plug?

Our “paid” memberships started at 140 in 2014 and we had 88 paid members last year. At first, we envisioned ourselves as a group that not only supported LUFC with volunteer activity and rooting but also had a benevolent community presence. We did a few non-profit volunteer events in the beginning, but never really could find that momentum. I think we have a lot of sensitive, caring members, but in reality, no one could find the time or commitment for community involvement.

We did play a huge role in saving Civic Stadium from 2013-2015. Many of us marched in parades and advocated in the community to keep Civic a public sports space, and I personally attended all school district and city council meetings on the Civic topic. We sold custom scarves and operated a beer garden for the Civic opening ceremony and donated those proceeds to the effort. The Red Aces were present at City Hall during the ceremony where Civic was officially bought by the city.

The Red Aces show up to root for Lane United FC, and they don’t take it easy; flares, tifo, chants and smoke usually accompany the supporters group from Eugene/Springfield.

Are all Red Aces also Echo Squadron? Or is there a group who only have diamonds in their eyes (see what I did there?)

The founding members of Red Aces are part of the Echo Squadron and have been forever. When the opportunity to do something local came around with the Red Aces in 2013, however, we just didn’t get the crossover we wanted because the Timbers season is already in full swing by the time our mini-season starts in May. That is a problem we still have today. Since we moved our Echo Squadron home to Level Up Barcade in 2017, Echo Squadron had basically doubled in size, but we are still struggling on how to wrestle attention away from PTFC and on to our local club. I see a few reasons why we haven’t achieved the local growth we were hoping for:

1. TIMBERS!!!!! They will always capture the hearts and minds of the locals because it’s the only other “major league” club besides the Blazers. There’s just so much attention paid to the Timbers schedule and many of our Eugene folks have PTFC season tickets or make most of their matches. And now that the local youth program in Eugene is now “Eugene Timbers”, we are not attracting those kids and parents. As a matter of fact, we see some of these local kids and parents sitting on the PTFCU23 side when they come to town. Oooooof, that smarts.

2. Soccer snobbery (I used to be in this category). There are many people around here that think that MLS is still a bush-league affair, so there’s just no way we are going to capture these people and have them watch developmental soccer at our level. My view of this has changed after watching the lads these last five seasons. I now enjoy watching them develop and then move to the next level.

3. May/June/July… these are the months where the days start getting longer, the weather gets better, and after 6 months of Willamette Valley fall/winter, people are scratching at the walls to get out for camping, trips, etc. Our season also happens during the “Dads and Grads” season, and there are so many families planning reunions, trips, graduation events, etc. There are weekends I’d rather be out camping than sitting in the rain for a low-level soccer match… so I totally get it.

- Joshua Duder

The everyday fans may be dwindling slightly, but the Red Aces have long-supported their Reds, and even drove to hang tifo in Providence Park prior to the U 23s move to Salem.

For more information about Lane United FC:

https://www.laneunitedfc.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LaneUnitedFC/

For more information about Red Aces/Echo Squadron:

https://red-aces.org/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LUFCRedAces/

The State of Soccer: Oregon Part 1

This is the first article in a series on Oregon soccer. For the other two articles, check out part 2, which focuses on Lane United, and part 3, which focuses on the Oregon Open Cup.

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Salem, Oregon, has nearly one-hundred and fifty-five thousand residents; it is the capital of the state and home to multiple youth soccer organizations, both city-organized as well as private clubs. One of which is the Capital Fútbol Club, which is also the host of USL League Two side Timbers U23s. Both, the legacy of soccer in Salem and the story of the Timbers U23s have separate narratives which recently found themselves intertwined and brought both semi-professional men’s, as well as women’s soccer, back to the “Cherry City.” The Timbers U23s were founded in 2008 in the USL-PDL, as a part of the then USL Portland Timbers’ development structure – in a way, the U23s actually predate the current iteration of their parent MLS side, Portland Timbers.

The team announced a relocation in 2017 to the Capital city of Salem, and there were fans already waiting for season tickets to a team they could call their own—which they hadn’t had since the heady days of the Cascade Surge. The Surge, a side which provided semi-professional soccer to the Capital of Oregon for 14 years (1995-2009) had existed through the multiple iterations and growth periods of the very league which the U23s play in today. The old Surge organization is still connected to the soccer scene in Salem in many ways – one of the original founders, Dave Irby, still operates Surge International, a soccer ministry and it partners with youth soccer programs in coaching partnerships. Additionally, former Surge player Benje Orozco now serves as the Capital Fútbol Club Board President. Benje knows that this club is more than just a training ground for potential professional players; he is a family man who recognizes the amazing connection soccer can make for kids and their community as well, “Soccer is a tool to get kids into school, and to become good citizens of the community they’re involved in. The responsibility we have to our community is to help kids pursue their dreams and transition to being role models and good citizens of their communities. By coaching and being involved with CFC, my and my family’s lives have been blessed.”

The Cascade Surge were a rarity; a stable club in the constantly growing and changing early days of USISL/USL soccer.

To learn more about the current soccer team surging in Salem, we reached out to the Capital Fútbol Club Executive Director, Collin Box, who took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few fundamental questions about the organization; How they got to Salem, what their mission is, and how do they connect with the local support despite an affiliation with their parent organization, the Portland Timbers, who are an hour north on the I-5. During its time in Portland, the U23s played their soccer on the same ground as the MLS side, as well as their USL-Championship sibling squad, T2. As a matter of fact, the Timbers U23s have graduated a few notable players from their ranks into both the top USL side, as well as the MLS boys-in-green; including former standouts Jake Gleeson, and Kharlton Belmar. Timbers U23s even have a winning pedigree, who became the first PDL Champion to ever go, not only undefeated, but a perfect 16-0-0. But there remained the story of this successful branch of the Timbers organization moving to Salem. According to Box,

“The team moved to Salem in 2017 after we entered discussions with both Gavin Wilkinson and Nick Mansueto. As our youth club, Capital FC Timbers, was already affiliated as a Timbers Alliance member, there was a built-in level of trust and relationship that existed beforehand. With the addition of T2 and the growth of the Timbers and Thorns Academies, the Timbers organization was looking to move the U23’s out of the crowded Portland market, and we ended up being the right fit in Salem—I do think it’s worth noting as well, that Aaron Lewis, our current coach, originally worked with the PDL squad from 2010-12 as the team administrator. It’s been helpful having his knowledge and history of the team guide us as we began things here in Salem.”

The Timbers and Thorns organization is well-known for its dedicated fan base; did it follow you to Salem, or was there already a built-in level of support who were just waiting for a club? Are they as wild as the first team's Army in Portland?

“The fan base for the Timbers is incredible, and we definitely experienced that as the team moved down to Salem. Not only did the Salem Chapter of the Timbers Army adopt the team whole-heartedly, but we also saw support from Timbers supporters everywhere - especially in our big derby vs Sounders U23. Wherever we travel, the Timbers army seems to show up to support. We’ve had tremendous support as we’ve played games in places like Bend, Albany, and even saw some supporters come out when we were in Tucson in 2017 for the PDL Northwest Division semi-finals.”

The Portland Timbers U23s moved to Salem, Oregon in 2017… it was kind of a big deal.

Being an active member of the community is a large part of the Timbers and Thorns mission--not just playing soccer. In what ways do the Timbers U23s contribute to their city? How could fans or even just residents of Salem get involved?

“Our mission for the team is much bigger than just what happens on the field. We believe in the power of sport to unite and inspire. In coordination with the Timbers Army in Salem, we’ve used games to support local nonprofits and provided tickets to foster families and kids in our area. One of the unique parts about the Timbers U23 players is that these are accessible future professionals. We regularly have these players in our local elementary schools telling their stories of how they ended up where they are.

“For those in the community wanting to get involved, it’s as simple as bringing a teddy bear to our annual teddy bear toss for Liberty House Child Abuse Assessment Center or donating a can of food during our food drive. But even more than that, it’s an attitude of unity, respect, and community that we want to embody. We really view this team as a way to benefit our community.”

Where does the club draw its players from? A lot of teams at this level of soccer are nearly dependent upon college students to fill out a roster, is this the case with U23s as well? Are there any players who have come up through an associated youth program? Are there players who never went to college but just have the skills to play at this level and have fought their way onto the team?

“We draw players mostly from college programs that we are connected with throughout the country. Through our affiliation with the Timbers brand, we’ve been very successful in attracting high quality talent and pushed through more players to professional soccer than any other USL2 program in the nation.

“We also have open tryouts and have had several players make it into the squad as they pursue the dream.

“We do have Timbers Academy players as well as several players from our youth club that have gone through and play for the U23’s. The most notable of these is Jordan Farr, who was our goalkeeper in 2017 and is now beginning his second season with USL Championship side Indy Eleven.”

Jordan Farr, currently playing for Indy Eleven, helped the 2017 Timbers U23s win their division and qualify for the 2018 USOC first round.

What match or matches is the club most looking forward to? Do you have a rival? I mean, we all know about the natural rivalry between Portland and Seattle, but does that translate to the U23s? Do other clubs in Oregon pose a rivalry, or do you view them as friendly competition?

“The Northwest Division of USL2 is the best division in the league. We have quality teams that have elevated the standard of lower-league soccer in the US and Canada that do a very professional job within their organization. We really enjoy all the matches, but things get the most heated between us and Seattle. That’s when the Timbers Army comes out in bigger numbers and the intensity rises.

“We also have a good rivalry with Lane United in Eugene as our only Oregon rivals. They have a fantastic supporter’s group that travels well. Because we’re neighbors, we tend to get good crowds both here in Salem and in Eugene.

“We also really look forward to the games against Calgary. In our first year in Salem in 2017, we played three straight matches against the Canadians and won the division on the last game. Last year, Calgary were champions of not only the division but also the league, and so their quality and professionalism is something we always look forward to.“

Benji Michel, now with Orlando City of MLS, celebrates a victory over in-state league rival Lane United FC.

Its well-known that support for the Timbers, at any level, is legendary. Collin Box noted and praised the support, but to get an idea of where it comes from and why it comes so naturally to the soccer community of Salem, we turned to Brian Stephen and Cliff Eiffler-Rodriguez of Timbers Army Capital City Company—the supporter’s group for the U23s in Salem. What is it like supporting a club at this level; are you supporting the "local team" or is it an extension of your support for the Portland Timbers?

“TACCC started before we had this version of a local team, but I believe it was after Cascade Surge had dissolved.... I believe it was around the same timeframe. It was around a few years already before I started to get involved. My understanding is that it really started as a Salem watch party group for Timbers away games, as many of us are able to make it to home matches. Dean Howes and AJ Klausen, from Vagabond Brewing, Brent Diskin, Andrew Yaxley, Juan and Lynn Farias and a handful of others helped to start TACCC initially, as far as I know.

“The thing about the U23 matches is that all of these kids are still trying to make it. They’re staying frosty for their college teams and are trying to be recognized. There isn’t any TA politics in the stands. There are only the players on the field and the supporters in the stands. And they’re relatively local kids; some come from a ways-away, we had some Akron kids here wanting to be seen by Porter when he was coach. We have Pilots. We have Zags. We have local Corban kids. There are former Surge players in the administration and the kids of former Surge players have come through the system. Former U23s players are playing for first teams in San Jose and Orlando, as well as Jordan Farr at Indy Eleven. It’s fun to watch them come through.”

Capital City Company show up in big numbers to support their local USL-L2 club, Timbers U23s.

Where did Capital City Company get its start? Are there supporters who can remember supporting the Cascade Surge, or is this a Timbers SG and the old Salem area club is out of sight out of mind?

“I believe the idea behind making it a regional group was to coordinate community events and contribute to Timbers Army Stand Together type events. When CFC made a bid to host the U23s it was just a bonus at first, but was seen as an opportunity to share the ethos and help spread the love of the game. Then, after spending time at the matches, it grew on us and we really appreciated the fact that they’re here. The matches are a lot of fun.”

I've been to a Timbers U23s match or two, and I've seen firsthand that the support for the players on the pitch is genuine. However, there is a culture amongst Supporter's Groups to go one step further and give back to the community. In what ways to the Capital City Company do that?

“Capital City Company has an annual food drive at the U23 matches, as well as a “stuffed animal toss” every year for the Liberty House Child Abuse Assessment Center. Very child who is assessed receives a stuffed animal and a blanket, and we’ve been able to donate animals for that. We also have worked with the local clubs to organize food drives at their tournaments. We’ve helped as a group at Marion-Polk Food Share, not just with the food drives, but also separating and bagging food at the warehouse. We’ve helped clean up debris for Keizer Parks, and along with Futsal Oregon are trying to help bring Futsal courts to Salem area parks. Aside from Facebook and Twitter, we have a website at www.tacapitalcitycompany.com.”

Salem fans transforming their support for the boys on the pitch to the kids in the community with their annual Teddy Bear Toss.

Smoke, drums, tifo, chants... there are so many elements to a Supporter’s Group. Which in-stadium elements does CCC do well? Is there anything you'd like to do better?

“This is the third season we’ve had the U23s in Salem. We’re still getting our feet under us. We’ve had drums at every match, and our consistent drummer actually broke through his drum head during a match this season. We started having smoke mid-season of season one (thank you 4th of July fireworks stands). It helped that season one was a great year and we had big numbers then… they had a great season and they eventually lost to Reno in the USOC. What we’d need are more drummers. We had a couple trumpets for a while, but they haven’t been around for a while... so we could definitely use help with that. drummers. We had a couple trumpets for a while, but they haven’t been around for a while... so we could definitely use help with that.

- Joshua Duder

Thank you to legendary Timbers fan and artist, Brent Diskin, for letting us include this image. He is a resident of Salem, Oregon and can sometimes be found rooting from the terraces of McCulloch Stadium.

Sources:

https://www.capitalfctimbers.com/2018/10/10/introducing-key-members-benje-orozco-and-vicky-cruz/

https://www.surgesoccer.org/about-us/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Surge