Soccer is the world's game — the beautiful game — and here in Spokane, it's the Velocity's game.
For the first time this spring, soccer fans across the Inland Northwest have been able to take in this glorious spectacle while witnessing USL League One action — the highest level of professional play the city's ever called its own — during a match at the new ONE Spokane Stadium.
Between the Spokane Velocity men and the impending debut of the Spokane Zephyr women's team in August, the Lilac City is now present on the world's stage.
When fans sit down to take in a match, the action is all down on the pitch, between the players and the ball; their coaches and tactics. But it's also what fans don't see that's allowed a city of our size to finally enjoy this opportunity.
The stadium, a quaint but comfortable 5,000-seat venue, was only built after an agreement was reached between the pro soccer teams' owners and Spokane Public Schools. Three hours before kickoff, staff work quickly to switch out branding and advertising for the match, swapping high school-related signage for the Velocity's visuals.
The air smells of hot rubber down on the artificial pitch, like tires burning out, as the team emerges for warmup with high hopes of providing a win for their fans in the stands. As the sun bakes the emerald-green turf, tiny black rubber pellets spray up each time a player's foot, shin or knee makes contact with it.
In front of a slowly but steadily increasing crowd on the two-level western grandstand and the smaller but closer eastern side, the players fine-tune their touches on the ball. They work to snap it into the back of the net rather than crash into the ad boards lining the pitch.
Eventually overtaking the scent of the sun-baked turf is the mouthwatering aroma of bratwurst and pulled pork, hot dogs and soft pretzels, nachos and freshly cracked beers. By the time the game's ready to start, the stadium smells — in the best way possible — of professional sports.
Thousands of fans are ready to root on their hometown team.
Below the concourse, the Velocity players gather in the locker room for one last motivational speech. Head coach Leigh Veidman implores his team (using the occasional profanity) to go all out for a win.
Then the men take the field, hand in hand with young soccer players from around the region who are noticeably thrilled to be taking the pitch alongside the pro athletes they aspire to be like someday. The two teams line up side by side for the national anthem.
From then, it's an athletic contest: The home-standing Velocity against the unliked visitors. One side against the other — the reason nearly 5,000 fans are here, hoping Spokane's team can win.
For many teams in USL League One (the third level of professional soccer in the United States), their home pitch is often primarily a football stadium, with visible yard markers and end zones. For these opposing teams, getting fans in the stands is far from guaranteed.
Intentionally designed as a multiuse facility, ONE Spokane Stadium doesn't bear permanent marks of a football field. Once match time comes around, it's a place perfectly fit for soccer.
So far, ONE Spokane Stadium is a bright spot in USL League One. Here, anyone with a ticket can enter the supporters' section behind the south goal. There, all fans are welcome to join the most enthusiastic, flag-waving and drum-beating supporters in the stadium, The 509 Syndicate.
The soccer club puts on their performance, and while more goes into that than the typical fan will ever see in person, the reason this club exists at all is because fans in Spokane know how to show up, proof of an "if you build it, they will come" situation.
The Velocity has built it, but it's the fans who have made it. Halfway into its inaugural season, the Velocity players will continue creating the club's legacy on the pitch, yet it's all for the fans to enjoy and enhance. ♦
