On the heels of successful donation drives for household supplies, clothes, and preseason tickets, the Timbers Army is in the midst of yet another effort for IRCO, the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization. Myself, Kyle “Caterjunes” Jones, and Michelle “Bella” DeFord had each been volunteering on an individual basis with IRCO prior to getting the TA involved, with Kyle and I helping kids with homework on Saturday mornings and Michelle coordinating several donation drives. Joining forces, we asked IRCO what else the TA could do for them. The staff told us that the kids have a soccer team but nowhere to play when it’s cold and wet outside, to which we thought, what better use of our charitable funds than to get kids playing soccer?

Thanks to the dogged efforts of Kyle, we finally secured a court at Rose City Futsal for 90 minutes every Saturday in March and April. As word of our latest endeavor got around, we were approached by an anonymous donor who wished to purchase new shoes for every kid. Michelle got a list of shoe sizes and the next thing we knew, eight bags full of shoeboxes arrived at the Fanladen.

Shoes!!

As fate would have it, their first session was on March 4th, the day after the home opener, and next to the court where TAFC was playing a friendly against Minnesota United’s Dark Clouds and True North Elite supporters groups. After putting on their new shoes, the IRCO kids ran through training drills and played intrasquad games for their allotted time with their coach, Jared Hoffman from AC Portland who has graciously donated his time every weekend.

 
Photos by Scott Jeffries

Then came one of the most moving displays I’ve ever seen as a Timbers fan. TAFC and Dark Clouds, realizing they had their court for half an hour longer than IRCO, spontaneously stopped their game and invited the kids over to come play with them. As the kids entered, the adults applauded them onto the court, they intermingled teams, Portland and Minnesota, kids and adults, immigrants and citizens, for one big friendly match. With too many players to go around, another match spilled out onto the empty court next door. Many more simply watched, not a dry eye among them.

Photo by Ray Terrill

The kids have come back twice since then and news has certainly traveled, with a larger turnout and several new faces each week. This past weekend saw 24 players and they are quickly outgrowing their small space, but as the weather slowly improves, they will head outdoors. The team is training to compete in the annual Portland World Cup Tournament, organized by Portland Parks and Recreation every summer, scheduled this year for July 21st and 22nd, sadly the weekend of Vancouver away, for which this writer has already booked travel plans, but those who are staying behind should mark their calendars to show up in support.

You can also show your support by purchasing a "Refugees Welcome" scarf here. All proceeds go to IRCO.

It’s been a great few months helping these kids and their families, but we’re not about to stop here. We have two more initiatives in the works right now: finding a coach for a new girls’ team (which we may well have as I write this!) and helping some of the kids pay club soccer dues. As we watch an 18-year-old high school senior from Gresham playing on the first team and I see how talented some of these IRCO kids are, I can’t help but imagine one of them taking the field someday as our next homegrown player and remembering how it all started.

Photo by Ray Terrill

Like many of the things we do, our relationship with Friends of Trees grew from the interest of members who aligned closely with multiple groups and wanted to utilize our sweat equity to do some good in the community. Almost ten years ago, this relationship was established as one of us was a neighborhood coordinator for Friends of Trees and tapped the TA to help with a planting he was organizing. Over these years, we have increased the number of experienced tree planters within our ranks and have been a reliable source of volunteers for them when they need it most. In fact, many of our volunteers have more experience than some of the crew leaders often do. This allows the crews we’re on to be highly effective as a they can be broken down to more effectively cover their assigned planting area. Sure, planting trees for goals with the Timbers is fun and all, but, while volunteer need is a factor, these events are typically scheduled to align with whether the players are still in town. The strength of our relationship is our ability to answer the call when they are in need of our ability to bring it strong. Typically, this happens when they’re going into large groups of lower-income neighborhoods where volunteerism may be lower than others. These are some of the same areas where we have sought to connect our community services (OPI, GCSF, etc.) with those that need it most. One of our continued issues is getting people to know who we are and what we do. These types of events allow us to put visible boots on the ground and grow our influence.

As Friends of Trees has grown in the community, they’ve been able to develop a deep enough pool of volunteers to keep us as their ace in the hole. This weekend is one of those times where they could really use our help as they go into the neighborhoods of Arbor Lodge, Kenton, Overlook, and Portsmouth to plan 210 street trees. If you’ve seen the member distribution maps at the 107IST Annual General Meetings, you’ll know that this area is second only to that just to the west including St. Johns. Our plantings there over the last couple years have continually broken records for the number of members to actually walk to a 107IST event. This one may be the only area that can compete on this measure. As it stands, they have a handful of residents and some small groups coming out. So, come on out and give us a hand, get some dirt on ya, and make our presence known while doing some good for the community.

For more details and to sign up, go here.

Lastly, our greatest strength is the involvement of our members. If you find ways within your local community that you’re passionate about and think that the 107IST may be able to help, shoot us a message at community@107ist.org and we’d be happy to see what we can do to help. It may even be the next thing we take to the next level.

Let’s do this, Portland.

The 107IST mission is to support soccer in and around Portland, from the grassroots to the highest professional level.

One of my favorite things about volunteering to serve the 107 Independent Supporters Trust (107IST) is the work we get to do in the community supporting kids and soccer. Through membership dollars, donations, and proceeds from merchandise sales, 107IST gets to make a difference in the lives of others.

One example of this support is the work we were recently able to carry out at Alder Creek Middle School. Through the work of Gilmer Gongora, 107IST member and Northwest Family Services PreventNet Site Coordinator, we were able to support middle school soccer for a group of students at Alder Creek Middle School. Gilmer explains:

“Every Tuesday and Thursday at Alder Creek MS, a group of kids stay after school to play soccer. 80% of them have only played soccer with friends at lunch, or at pick-up games on the weekends. For these kids, soccer is a way of life; but the opportunity for them to play on a team is limited by finances, by transportation due to parents working, and by students’ lack of awareness of soccer opportunities. In the after school soccer program, 85% are low income Latino students, who have made the after school club their own.

“This is my second year running the program, and I wanted to make it bigger and better from the previous year. The first year, students wanted to play other teams. I wasn’t sure what the turnout would be so we only were able to scrimmage each other. This year, with help of three great organizations, it was possible to finally play other teams. I had enough numbers to create both a girls’ team and a boys’ team. With 80-85% of the players that signed up for my after school program having no previous experience playing organized soccer, it was an awesome opportunity to give kids a chance to be on a team for the first time. The 107IST, Building Blocks 4 Kids, and Tursi Soccer Supply sponsored and fitted the two teams for their indoor soccer season with brand new uniforms. I was given enough to buy indoor shoes for half of the players.

“With this opportunity, I asked students to try harder in school so they could earn the right to be on the team. I have seen players stay in during lunch with teachers to do homework or catch to up on assignments. One of the best things to experience is being part of a team, and I am glad that these kids were given a chance to be a part of one.”

This ability to purchase uniforms and equipment for both teams, as well as to secure scheduled time at indoor soccer playing other teams, was made possible thanks to membership dollars, merchandise sales, and donations in memory of Pondo Kosmas, a beloved 107IST member and owner of Mad Greek Deli. If you’re a member, if you donated, or if you purchased merchandise through No Pity Originals, thank you for making this possible. We are grateful for your support for team, town, and TA/Riveters; and for your support for soccer in and around Portland, from the grassroots to the highest professional level.

TAFC will be hosting Open Play at RCF East (5010 NE Oregon St) on 3/4 from 2-4PM with the visiting Minnesota Dark Clouds and True North Elite supporters groups. This location is accessible via rideshare and transit, carpooling is encouraged.

We'll have one court available, and it'll be informal, pickup-style play. All skill levels are welcome.

Play is FREE, and we'll be collecting donations for future TAFC Open Play opportunities.

RCF East has a bar/restaurant on-site, with ample space for those who want to come hang out or mingle and not play. It's also family friendly.

All are welcome. #RCTID

RCF East: http://rosecityfutsal.com/east/

TAFC: https://timbersarmy.org/tafc

Thanks to all who came out to the Mission Theater for the 2017 107ist Annual General Meeting on February 12. Thanks also to Todd Diskin for organizing the event and to Scott van Swearingen for introducing the new format, which minimized the time spent on 2016 committee reports and instead allowed us to get some great discussions going with all of you. We'll be going through all of your valuable feedback in the coming weeks and using it to hopefully make everything we do this year even better.

As we do every year at this event, each committee shared their accomplishments from the previous season, plans for the current season, and current volunteer needs -- but only for 30 minutes this time. The rest of the AGM was devoted to discussion and feedback. Our facilitators, Kevin Hiebert and Jessica Riehl, had everyone turn in answers to the following questions on notecards:

• How has the 107IST impacted your life? 
  
• What are the essential stories we need to share with the community about the 107IST?
  

We then broke into small group sessions and discussed the following topics, with each member having an opportunity to attend two sessions:

• Telling the 107IST story

• Volunteer engagement

• Building a robust communications system

• Planning for the future: A place

• Rose City Riveters

We collected everyone's responses from all sessions and will be discussing them as a board later in the month.

For those who weren't able to attend or who would like to look through the slides again, you can view or download the AGM presentation slides and notes as a PDF. Note that some sensitive financial data has been removed from this download, but the info is freely available to members by arrangement with the Treasurer.

Volunteer Signup Forms

Across the organization, we need all types of volunteers at all skill levels. Please read both the presentation slides and the following signup forms for details about what each committee is looking for. Committee chairs will be getting back to applicants within the next few weeks.

• 107IST Events Committee
• 107IST Partnership Team
• 107IST Finance Consultant
• 107IST Community Outreach
• 107IST Membership Committee
• TA/107IST Communications
• TA/Riveters Travel Team
• TA Game Day Operations
• Riveters Tifo Design/PM Team
• Riveters Communications
• Riveters Merch Sales Team
• Riveters Capos/Drums/Trumpets

This Sunday, the 107 Independent Supporters Trust will hold its 2017 Annual General Meeting from 1:00-3:00 pm at the Mission Theater in NW Portland.

As we do every year, the 107 Independent Supporters Trust holds a meeting for members before the start of the regular season. This Annual General Meeting, or AGM, is typically a chance for the 107IST Board of Directors to share information about the past year, including successes, challenges, and plans for the coming year. While we love to share the good news about the amazing team/town/TA-Riveters work that members accomplish, for several years the AGM has had the same format: board members do most of the talking, everyone else mostly listens.

This year will be different.

Much of the AGM is designed for your participation. We will have breakout conversations focused on a variety of strategic topics, including volunteer engagement, communications, Riveters & 107IST, and planning for the future. Several board members will be at each breakout session, and everyone will get a chance to rotate and participate in more than one session. Board members will take what we learn from all of you to our annual Board strategic planning session later this month. Pre-emptive thanks to our guest facilitators Kevin Hiebert and Jessica Riehl, who will be helping facilitate most of the afternoon with us.

We’ll still have a little bit of AGM “sit and get.” Board members will still give brief reports to membership on the past year’s activities and a brief look at the year ahead. But this year, most of our time together at the AGM is designed to give members more opportunities to interact, with board members and with each other. As we do every year, we’ll also provide signup forms online for you to apply to work with our various committees.

If you’ve been to the AGM before, come prepared for something different: a chance to participate. And if you’ve never been before or you are a new 107IST member, you’re also welcome and encouraged to attend. We look forward to the conversation.

A statement on behalf of the 107IST Board of Directors

As the engine that fuels The Timbers Army and the Rose City Riveters, the 107IST board represents a growing and disparate group of supporters. As we have mentioned before, we know that as supporters we will disagree about many things, large and small, in person and online. In case it isn’t already abundantly clear, this is a reminder that as an organization there are some things on which we all agree.

• We support team, town, and TA/Riveters.
  
• We support soccer in and around Portland, Oregon, from the grassroots to the highest professional level.
  
• We have zero tolerance for hate.
  

We stand by our Muslim brothers and sisters, and by our friends in the immigrant and refugee community. We’re taking donations for immigrant and refugee families, and we’re gathering donated tickets so that we can take immigrant and refugee youth to preseason games. Our community outreach this year will focus on supporting the most vulnerable among us, including support for immigrants and refugees, participation in the Portland Pride March, support for homeless youth, and more.

There is no room in the Timbers Army or Rose City Riveters for hate. None. We reject hate and discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or country of origin. Some things change as our organization grows: but our core values do not. This is not a political stance: it is a stance that respects basic rights and dignity for all humans. Regardless of world events and politics, we will stand against hate and discrimination, every time.

(Cross-posted from rosecityriveters.org)

“To support soccer from the grassroots to the highest professional level”

Chances are that if you’re at all familiar with the 107 Independent Supporters Trust (107IST), you recognize that as our mission. Those words have been the guiding force behind everything we’ve done as organization since we were formed in 2009.

The 107IST was born out of the Timbers Army with the purpose of doing the heavy lifting on behalf of a vibrant supporters’ culture that was in the midst of a transition to MLS and the associated stadium renovations. The establishment of the non-profit organization was necessary to provide a stable point of contact to the Front Office on all issues facing supporters, be accountable for the management of all finances, house the intellectual and physical assets, as well as build on our already established record in the community.

The 107IST was founded to be the engine that drives the Timbers Army.

In the early days there really was little distinction between the Timbers Army and the 107IST. The 107IST Board of Directors supported the operations of the Timbers Army, and the two entities were viewed by most people as being synonymous.

However, in 2012, a change occurred with the announcement of the National Women’s Soccer League and the news Portland would have a team. When the Portland Thorns FC announcement was made official, supporters were already working to come together, organize, and plan for showing their dedication to the new team. The Rose City Riveters supporters group was born out of passion, anticipation, and civic pride, and quickly joined the 107ist community. From the beginning, in accordance with our mission and the wishes of the 107IST members, there has been a close relationship between the 107IST and the Rose City Riveters. This has included everything from knowledge sharing, to organizational support, to sharing the 107IST infrastructure. The Riveters have supported the Thorns from day one, and have set the standard on a global scale for what it means to support a women’s soccer team. Their tifo is second to none, they travel across the country to support their club, and they share this knowledge freely with other burgeoning SGs.

To be sure, there have been growing pains over the past few years, but there has also been much work done to identify problems and work through them.

Even though this relationship is now entering its fifth year, we still see a lot of confusion amongst members of the Portland soccer community. We thought that as we head into the 2017 seasons for both teams, it would be a good time to put out a succinct statement that clarifies the relationship between the 107IST, Rose City Riveters, and Timbers Army.

The 107IST is the umbrella under which both supporters groups live. It supports both groups as equal peers. Today the 107IST Board is still the de facto board for the Timbers Army, while the Rose City Riveters have their own steering committee. Lexi Stern sits on the steering committee as a 107IST Board member, and the rest of those positions are filled by core Rose City Riveters volunteers who oversee Riveters subcommittees.

As our work has evolved, we have incorporated both Rose City Riveters and Timbers Army work on the 107IST Community Outreach committee. We are looking to continue to evolve this cooperative participation at the 107IST committee level in several other areas, such as in travel and membership.

Over time we expect this “cross-pollination” to grow. We also expect that certain committees will work closely together, but remain separate as it makes the most sense. Game day is a good example here: we use the collective buying power of the 107IST to the benefit of both groups, but the actual day-to-day management of stadium operations are handled by two distinct teams.

Additionally, as time goes on, you’ll see the 107IST and the Timbers Army becoming more distinct from each other when appropriate. This started with the 107IST newsletter (which has always included both Timbers Army and Rose City Riveters news) as well as with Green Weekend (where both SGs have participated for the past few years).  As we continue to grow and evolve, you’ll likely see some messages come from 107IST, some from Timbers Army, some from Rose City Riveters, and some from combinations of the three, as appropriate.

In the end, the best summary of all of this is with an updated tagline that we’ve actually been using for a while:

The 107 Independent Supporters Trust: The engine behind the Timbers Army and Rose City Riveters.

Respectfully Signed,
The 107IST Board of Directors and Rose City Riveters Steering Committee

For several years now, 107IST members have been the people who fund the engine that fuels the Timbers Army and the Rose City Riveters. In addition, 107IST members have had the chance to acquire an additional "thank you gift" (sometimes affectionately referred to as "swag") each year they sign up or renew. From enamel pins to bottle openers to tote bags to keychains, we've had a variety of different 107IST membership gifts in the past.

This year, 107IST members who say "yes, I want a membership gift" will get a challenge coin when signing up or renewing for 2017. (Local members get a voucher they can redeem for a challenge coin at the Fanladen; members who live further away will get their challenge coins in the mail.)

What the heck is a challenge coin?

Challenge coins have several origin stories, all military in origin. In the Roman Empire, coins were sometimes used to recognize a soldier's achievements. Modern challenge coin origin stories include tales of a flying squadron in World War I; stories of the OSS in World War II; and still other accounts of the 17th Infantry Regiment in the Korean conflict.  Regardless of the origin, the general notion of a challenge coin is to commemorate membership in a particular military group, and is also often associated with special achievements or visits. A coin can be a source of pride, a memento of a special event, a morale booster, and/or proof of membership in a group. 

The "challenge" part of the name refers to coin holders being challenged to present their coins. As in origin stories, the rules for coin challenges vary, but most have a similar theme: upon being challenged to present coins, all coin-holding members of a group must physically present their coins. Any member who cannot produce his/her coin is generally responsible for buying other members present a beverage. If all members in attendance are able to produce their coins, the person who challenged others to present coins must instead buy all members present a beverage.

The 107IST challenge coin for 2017 is a beautifully crafted commemorative coin. On one side, there is a representation of a 107IST member doing volunteer work with Operation Pitch Invasion (thank you, Nicole Barker, for the photo it comes from). On the other side are the logos of the 107IST, the Timbers Army, and the Rose City Riveters.  Around the edges of the coin are the mission of the 107IST, along with some of the many things 107IST members do.

If you are a local member, check your packet for the voucher with the picture of a challenge coin on it. Bring that voucher to the Fanladen during office hours (usually Wednesday nights 6:30-8:30) or on match days before home matches. You can exchange the voucher for your own challenge coin.

We know we aren't the first supporters group to create a challenge coin. Heck, we aren't even the first Timbers Army people to do so. We have both Eastern Bloc & TA:CO (Timbers Army:Covert Ops) challenge coins on display at the Fanladen, for example. But we thought these would be a wonderful way to commemorate the work you support with your membership, as well as a reminder of what we're all about.

No, we don't have any dictates about "rules" for coin checks. As with most other things we do, we're sure that people will come up with their own variations. As a 107IST member in 2017, enjoy your challenge coin as a reminder of what your membership supports. Whether it's tifo and other game day operations, community outreach, or any of the activities associated with our core mission, your membership in 107IST supports Team, Town, and TA/Riveters: supporting soccer in and around Portland, Oregon, from the grassroots to the highest professional level.

Update 2/3/17: We have reached our goal for both games! Thank you to everyone who donated - we no longer need tickets. If you wanted to donate but were unable to, we'll be taking up collections for future games so hopefully you can contribute then. 

Update 2/2/17: We have reached our goal of 30 tickets for the game on 2/9! We are now only looking for tickets on 2/15 against Vancouver. See original post below.

Will you have any spare Timbers Army tickets for the preseason games on February 9th and/or 15th? We would like to have a group of kids from the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) join us in the TA and we're looking for your unused tickets. Maybe you'll be out of town or you can't make a weeknight game, or maybe you just want to give up your seat for a good cause. Whatever the reason, your ticket will bring a lot of joy to a child and help them feel more a part of this community, which they need now more than ever. 

Don't have season tickets but want to help? That's ok! You can buy Timbers Army tickets here - that's sections 101-208 (doesn't matter which) or choose the Timbers Army option under "Purchase By Price" - and then donate them! 

Please email tickets as PDFs to ticketdonation@107ist.org with the subject "IRCO Donation". We are looking for the 9th (against Salt Lake) and the 15th (against Vancouver) only -- NOT the 12th. Please note we are only looking for Timbers Army (general admission) tickets so that we can keep the kids together. We will update this post when we have received enough tickets.