Field of broken dreams

The Spokane Shadow have left in their wake a void.

With the soccer team out of commission for the 2006 season – and possibly for good – the Spokane soccer scene has lost perhaps its top representative, and, outside of the school season, fans now have few options for where to watch high-level soccer.

“The biggest downside is throughout the summer months there is no place for the fan base to go watch good quality soccer,” said Kieran Barton, who was set to coach the team this season for the second consecutive season and who also had two playing stints with the Shadow.

Andy Billig, a vice president at Brett Sports & Entertainment, owners of the Shadow, said the void will also be felt beyond the sidelines.

“There is a significant loss for community, as a family-friendly entertainment venue,” Billig said. “From fireworks nights to feeding frenzies with kids, it was a nice place to come and bring out the family.”

Formerly a member of the Northwest Division of the United Soccer Leagues’ Premier Development League, the Shadow had been in Spokane since their inception in 1995. In 1996, Brett Sports bought the Shadow and operated the team until closing shop March 27 after stating an unwillingness to play on the artificial turf surface at Joe Albi Stadium (the city of Spokane and the Spokane and Mead school districts have since announced a plan to replace the turf).

But if and when Albi gets a new playing surface, Billig said, it is still too early to determine the Shadow’s fate for 2007 and beyond.

“It’s really premature for us to make any decisions about next year,” Billig said. “We have no idea what is happening with the turf at Albi. We have not received any word from the city about the turf. … (Coming back) is one of the options, but that may be difficult for a variety of reasons.”

Over their decade of existence, the team had sent multiple players on to play at higher levels, including Billy Sleeth, a Ferris grad who was drafted by Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire and played with the Colorado Rapids; Zach Kingsley, a Shadle Park grad who played with the Rapids; Craig Waibel, a Lewis and Clark grad who plays with the Houston Dynamo; and Brian Ching, a Gonzaga University graduate who plays with the Dynamo and is pushing for a spot on the U.S. World Cup roster.

Both Waibel and Ching were disappointed upon hearing the news of the Shadow’s demise, and both credit their time with the Shadow as being instrumental in their development. Waibel went so far as to say he didn’t believe he would be playing in MLS had it not been for the time he spent with the Shadow.

“The Shadow played a huge part in me being a part of soccer and it being a career,” said Waibel, who also said he still wears the T-shirt he received for being an inaugural member of the Shadow. “… I was one of the guys who went to college and didn’t play much my freshman or sophomore year. I came home in the summer, and that was my chance to play and improve with older, more experienced players.

“I really strongly believe I’m a professional player because of the Shadow.”

For Ching, who spent 4 1/2 years in Spokane with Gonzaga and the Shadow and is tied for fourth on the Shadow’s all-time goal list with 21, playing in the summer helped enable him to develop into a regular for the U.S. National Team.

“I’m disappointed, for sure,” Ching said before playing Tuesday in the U.S. team’s 1-1 draw with Jamaica. “It was instrumental in the development of me as a soccer player. … I don’t know if I would have played soccer in the summer if not for the Shadow. I don’t know if I’d be where I am if not for the Shadow.”

Without the Shadow, there is no telling where current area college and high school players will be in the future.

East Valley senior Ben Funkhouser, one of the top players in the Greater Spokane League who started 12 games with the Shadow last summer, will attend Gonzaga in the fall and was planning on playing with the Shadow again this summer.

Now, rather than make the trek to PDL teams in Yakima or Tacoma, he’ll be resigned to playing in whatever open tournaments he can latch onto, regardless of the quality of competition.

“I still have the Gonzaga commitment I will be able to come back on,” Funkhouser said. “But the competition and the playing games won’t be there … Last year (with the Shadow) was the most progressive year I’ve had since I was 9 or 10. (Now) I won’t get that competitive edge you really need to progress in the game.”

“(High school players) are still playing if they’re in Spokane,” Barton added. “But they’re the best kids on the team now, so they’re helping other players get better instead of improving and playing with veteran players.”

Funkhouser’s coach at EV, Jeff Rose – a former Shadow player – feels for Funkhouser and any high school player who no longer has the chance to improve at a higher level then club ball.

“Who knows where they will go if the Shadow doesn’t come back?” Rose asked. “They have to search for something when they get to 18, 19 years old. They have to train on their own, which doesn’t do nearly as much as playing at high level of the Shadow.”

Although there are PDL teams within a few hours drive from Spokane, asking high school kids like Funkhouser to travel long distances and live away from home to play soccer isn’t always feasible.

“Ben’s young,” Rose said. “College kids are used to being away from home. Ben doesn’t know what to do. … He’s left out in the cold.”

Barton agreed, worrying where high school players form Spokane will go to improve.

“The practice time with better players is a stepping stone,” Barton said. “Kids in Spokane going from U-18 to Division-I soccer, that’s leaping forward. … Most of the college kids have moved out (of home), so they’re fairly easy-going going out of town for three months. In high school, a junior or senior, they’re not ready for that.”