New PYSA soccer complex nears goal
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POLSON — It’s been six weeks since the Polson Youth Soccer Association broke ground on its new soccer complex, and PYSA fundraising chair Sarah Smith is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel after the project got underway more than five years ago.
The four regulation-size fields are graded and ready for topsoil, and assuming donations to the registered nonprofit cover the remaining $275,000 needed to construct the four irrigated fields and a concession/restroom building, PYSA expects to complete the project by next spring.
“We’ve got a lot of involvement from within our program,” Smith said, “and we’ve got a lot of good volunteers.”
PYSA has been around in some form for more than 30 years, and each season the all-volunteer organization provides around 300 players from ages 4–18 the opportunity to learn, play and compete all over the region. With an active core of 15 to 30 volunteers, board members, parents and coaches, PYSA has produced five Montana State Cup-winning teams since 2010 and has established itself as the feeder program for Polson High School boys’ and girls’ soccer teams. Since starting fundraising for a new facility more than five years ago, PYSA has received grants from Polson Rotary, Greater
Polson Community Foundation, Lower Flathead Valley Community Foundation, and the Rolfson Charitable Trust, as well as a generous gift from the Mildred Weber Hanson Estate, among other private donations.
After fighting flooding, parking and space limitations for years at Kerr
Dam Fields, in 2014 PYSA was finally able to purchase outright 20 acres of land behind the Mission Valley Aquatic Center. The land was recently annexed into Polson city limits, and the organization is closer than ever to realizing a dream of having its own permanent facility capable of hosting 28-team tournaments — something all of Polson can get excited about, soccer fans or not.
“This will have a huge ripple effect on our community,” Smith said.
Soccer tournaments are held in spring and fall, the shoulder seasons for tourist season in the Mission Valley, and would bring at least 10 players per team, plus their families and coaches, to town for the weekend, which could be a nice boost for the local economy.
“We’d also like the fields to be multi-use,” Smith added, explaining that PYSA will make the facility available to other sports groups when possible.
To learn more about supporting PYSA, visit polsonyouthsoccer.org.
