Kitsap Sun: Soccer could be on its way

By Chuck Stark
Tuesday, September 16, 2008


Robin Waite looks like he's getting close to the end of the road in his quest to bring professional soccer to Kitsap County.

"It's been a long slow journey," Waite said. "But it looks like we're going to make it."

There are still details to hammer out and contracts to sign, but Waite is confident he'll have a United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League franchise playing at Bremerton Memorial Stadium by May 2009.

Waite and the Bremerton School District are close to putting together a lease agreement that will allow the Tracyton resident to use the high school stadium for home games.

Wayne Lindgren, director of finance and operations for the school district, said district officials and Waite would meet within the next two weeks.

"He wants to get moving on this," Lindgren said of Waite, the owner of Invovest Properties who a year ago was putting together plans to build a $3.2 million, 6,000-seat, soccer-only stadium in Poulsbo.

His monetary investment in this stadium project is considerably less — about $200,000, said Waite.

As a show of good faith, Waite's already agreed to purchase a new scoreboard for the stadium even if the deal falls through or the league folds. And he said he will install a video board, add about 1,500 bleacher seats for the end zones, provide security for the neighborhoods and traffic control in the beginning, and also provide financing for some needed drainage work on the grass field.

Read the entire article here.