Kicking off: Futsal mini-pitches open in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — An enthusiastic Boom Boom Clap spread across Harrison K. Dano Park in Moses Lake Tuesday. 

“Who here knows what Boom Boom Clap is?” Seattle Sounders Communications Manager Gisselle Pichardo asked the crowd, which included youth soccer players, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin students and city officials. “It’s a special cheer that we do every time the Seattle Sounders and Seattle Reign play at home at Lumen Field.” 

Pichardo, along with other representatives from the Sounders men’s and Reign women’s professional football (soccer) clubs, was there to open two new futsal pitches built through donations to the RAVE Foundation, a joint outreach program of the two teams. The pitches were the completion of the foundation’s 26 by 2026 Fields initiative to construct 26 futsal pitches in Washington state before Seattle hosts the International Federation of Football Associations, or FIFA, World Cup next year. The pitches opened Tuesday were the 25th and 26th, Pichardo said. 

Futsal is a variant of soccer, played by teams of five on a hard field, or mini-pitch, the size of a basketball court. The game developed in South America for youth competitions at YMCAs, and is now played worldwide through FIFA. 

The Moses Lake fields were a joint effort by the city of Moses Lake, the RAVE Foundation and former Moses Lake resident Scotty Tymczyszyn. Tymczyszyn, a real estate investor now living in Renton, donated $100,000 to the foundation with the stipulation that the pitches be built next to the Boys & Girls Club in Moses Lake. The city did its part by laying down concrete at Dano Park. 

“We're always glad to see that more opportunities are given to our youth to get into productive and safe, healthy activities in our community,” said Moses Lake Mayor Dustin Swartz. “Another feature I would like to point out (is) water conservation, because we're always talking about this. This project afforded us the opportunity to take out a significant portion of grass and still provide a recreational opportunity to our citizens here.” 

When the construction was done, the RAVE Foundation painted the mini-pitches, one in Sounders colors and the other in Reign colors. 

“It’s not just a great day for Moses Lake, it is a great day for women’s soccer,” Reign Fan Development and Impact Manager Steph Hirsch told the cheering crowd of youth soccer players. “You all know why? Because this is Reign’s first mini-pitch in the state of Washington. That means that more of you are a part of our family now. And most importantly, our young girls and women have a place to play and then hopefully become my boss one day.” 

The stipulation that the mini-pitches be located next to the Boys & Girls Club was because Tymczyszyn had been a club member as a child and wanted to give back, he said.  

“We knew that this community needed something like this,” said Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Kim Pope. “(The children) need a safe place to go. It has been used tremendously. Poor Doug (Coutts, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services director) had to take down the temporary fences because kids were jumping the fence and playing on (the fields). That was exactly what we wanted. We know, at the Boys & Girls Club, our kids do not get a lot of opportunities. So you see them coming over here, this is going to be something for them too.” 

Pope brought four young athletes out onto the field to talk about what soccer meant to them, and then two players kicked the pitches’ first goals. The ceremonies wrapped up with a Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting. 

“Our kids are going to get opportunities that they would never have before because this happened here today,” Pope said. “Thank you all for supporting the kids in our community. All the kids in this area are going to love this.”