Patterson: Steelheads have next-level vision for soccer in Snohomish County

Dorian Lair has a vision.

In this vision he sees 2,000 fans watching the best semipro soccer the nation has to offer. He sees a festive community atmosphere, with a devoted supporters group in full voice, singing and chanting throughout the game. He sees local vendors selling food, drinks and team merchandise in the concourse.

This vision is already a reality. It’s happening 25 miles south in the north Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, where Ballard FC has become an unlikely hyperlocal sensation.

And this is what Lair is hoping to one day bring to Snohomish County.

Lair, the majority owner, president and chairman of the Snohomish County FC Steelheads, and the rest of the organization are taking the first tentative steps toward trying to bring a USL League Two team to the county.

Snohomish County FC has been in existence since 2017, bringing elite semipro soccer to the local community. The Steelheads currently operate two teams: their men’s indoor team, which is a part of the Western Indoor Soccer League and plays out of Arena Sports in Mill Creek; and their men’s outdoor team, which is part of the Cascadia Premier League and has called the likes of Lakewood High School and Archbishop Murphy High School its home. The indoor team is approaching the end of its season, while the outdoor team will get started in March. The Steelheads have also had women’s indoor and outdoor teams in the past, with the indoor team set to be revived next season.

But if all goes according to plan, there are bigger things ahead for the Steelheads.

U.S. Soccer operates top-level men’s soccer in the country as a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid is MLS, where the Seattle Sounders reside. Below that are a series of leagues that roughly approximate baseball’s minor leagues, but with most of those teams not affiliated with an MLS organization. The idea is that the pyramid’s levels develop players who may one day reach MLS. One of the lower levels of the pyramid is USL League Two (USL2).

So if Lair succeeds in making the Steelheads a USL2 team, then Snohomish County will officially be part of the U.S. Soccer pyramid. That’s a big deal.

“There are two reasons why I want to do this,” Lair said. “I played semipro soccer my whole life, at some high levels. But I never got the opportunity to be seen. There’s a big dropoff after college, and I just want there to be a space for people in the local community to play high-level soccer and have a chance to be seen.

“Then I want to try and create something for the community,” Lair continued. “The Pacific Northwest is so ripe for competitive soccer from a fan and community standpoint. Why not give the best local players top-notch, exciting events and build community around the thing we all love?”

How realistic would bringing a USL2 team to Snohomish County be? Ballard FC and Oly Town FC in Olympia show it can work. What these teams offer is a chance to experience a quality sporting product at a more family-friendly price point. Ballard FC regularly draws 1,500 fans to its home games at cozy Interbay Stadium, and the club won the 2023 USL2 championship in just its second season (Snohomish County natives like King’s High School graduate Lars Helleren and Jackson High School grad Cameron Martin were a part of that team). The team has a vociferous and devoted supporters club in The Bridgekeepers, who make sure the game-day atmosphere is joyful.

Not a bad way to spend $12 on a pleasant summer Friday evening.

So Lair has the blueprint. Not only has he picked the brains of Ballard FC president Sam Zisette and Oly Town FC owner Ryan Perkins, he was smack in the middle of the Bridgekeepers when Ballard FC defeated Lionsbridge FC 2-1 last August in the USL2 championship game, going berserk after Ballard scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time.

”When Ballard won in the last minute, some of my friends in the stands were crying and hugging one another,” Lair said. “That’s the passion soccer brings that’s not like any other sport. They really captured that with Ballard and Oly Town.”

The Steelheads want to capture that in Snohomish County, too.

Lair knows bringing a USL2 team to Snohomish County won’t happen overnight. He estimated that operating a USL2 team requires $100,000 per year. The Steelheads operate as a non-profit, so resources are limited. But a separate non-profit has been created with the specific goal of founding a USL2 team. The Steelheads are doing everything they can to immerse themselves in the community, such as offering free and low-cost soccer clinics for kids. And Lair is open to assistance from the community (those interested in contributing, or even sitting down for coffee with Lair to find out more, can contact the organization through the Steelheads’ website). If all goes well, Lair hopes to have the Steelheads playing in USL2 in two-to-five years.

“My whole thing is sustainability,” Lair said. “We have to do this the right way. If the money runs out at the end of the year, it’s not sustainable. We have to make sure we have the right programs, the right staff, the right revenue streams and the right business structure to make this last.

“It’s going to take passion. But it’s going to be sustainable when there’s passion behind the thing you love.”

Follow Nick Patterson on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.