Two new synthetic fields opened Friday at Harmony Sports Complex in east Vancouver, allowing year-round use by youth and young adult soccer players.
Washington Timbers secured financing to convert two former grass fields to synthetic turf and add field lights and fencing. Lights still need to be installed. The Washington Timbers serves about 3,500 soccer players, ages 5 to 19. The vast majority of players live in Clark County.
Clark County owns Harmony Sports Complex at Northeast 192nd Avenue and Northeast 18th Street. The county leases 54 acres to the Harmony Sports Association, which has license agreements with the Washington Timbers for soccer and Cascade Little League for baseball and softball.
The county’s agreement with Harmony Sports Association was signed in 1996. It was replaced by a new agreement in 2012 that extended the term to 2042, provided three synthetic turf soccer fields with lights and fencing were developed by 2026. With two fields opening Friday, one field remains to be built.
Harmony Sports Association is responsible for maintenance and operations. Clark County provides only minor support and is not involved in field scheduling.
David Madore, chair of the Board of County Councilors, attended Friday’s ceremonial opening of the two fields.
“The completion of these beautiful new artificial turf fields shows the great results that can be achieved when community leaders create a challenging vision, generously give to fill the need, collaborate with caring partners, and diligently work together,” Madore said. “This is a great example of our community working together to fulfill a dream.”
The ceremony was followed by the start of the 13th annual adidas Clash at the Border tournament. The three-day event features 300 soccer teams from six states and Canada for games at Harmony Sports Complex and throughout SW Washington.
