YVCC soccer is at home, at last

Things won’t always be as good for Yakima Valley’s women’s soccer team as they were Saturday, when both the sun and score smiled on the Yaks.

But at least on future afternoons, when the weather is raw and the outcome less desirable than YVCC’s 8-0 rout of Southwestern Oregon, Yakima Valley will still feel at home because it is at home.

Saturday’s match was the Yaks’ second on their new, on-campus field, and the rousing victory was just one of the benefits the third-year program figures to reap.

For the short term, the facility alongside North 16th Avenue is, as coach Luiz Machado put it, “hassle free.” Meaning YVCC no longer must pack up its gear and players for practices on a field near Perry Tech or matches at Chesterley Park.

For the longer term, it puts Yaks soccer on the map. It gives the program an identity, the college a visible and attractive venue and the community another park-like facility that will only enhance its livability and appeal to visitors.

As for its impact on YVCC’s ongoing struggles with Title IX, a federal law banning sex discrimination in schools, the new field certainly can’t hurt.

“I’ll bet there have been people driving by the last two days who wondered what was going on here,” said Abby Drollinger, who scored two YVCC goals Saturday. “They probably didn’t even know we had soccer.”

Or as athletic director Ray Funk said Saturday, squinting and smiling into the afternoon sun, “You have this great facility, right here on 16th with cars driving by all the time. What better advertising could you have?”

Even if the field is still a work in progress. As yet there’s no scoreboard, but Funk said one should be in place next month.

Otherwise, there is much to admire about this setting. A grassy berm rises toward spanking new Glenn-Anthon Hall to the south, a wrought-iron fence borders 16th to the west and curves north along Arlington Street, where a row of trees adds to the attraction. To the south are bleachers (which could seat a couple of hundred), attached to a concrete base, with Dunbar Field and Sherar Gym in the background.

And there is practice space to prevent the new sod from being worn down.

The cost, which the college pegged at $671,710, includes buying the land, formerly a portion of Larson Park, from the City of Yakima.

Talk about a bargain.

It was also a reversal of the “If you build it, they will come,” theme.

“I remember a few years back when we were talking to Luiz about coaching,” Funk said, “and he was like, ‘You’re really going to do it? You’re really going to have soccer?’”

Now, obviously, Machado is a believer.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am, and the whole team is, to have our field,” he said Saturday. “I want to thank the YVCC administration for being so supportive to our program.

“Our players have a true sense of pride, which they now can share with the rest of the campus and community. There were people who stopped by today to see what was happening, and they ended up staying and watching.”

Already, Machado said, the facility has helped recruiting, and Drollinger is hopeful it will add to Yakima’s overall soccer reputation.

“I’m playing because I want to support soccer here,” said Drollinger, who teaches math at Eisenhower High School. “Soccer’s big in Yakima, and something like this can only help it get bigger.”

Not to mention better.

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