Youth soccer group heads in new direction

By Kelly Kearsley
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

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The beleaguered Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association is hoping to survive with a fresh start following the resignation this week of several of its board members and its executive director.

The nine members of the association's board of trustees gave up their positions Monday after five hours of discussion, said Peter Lukevich, the board's former president. Earlier that day, the association laid off its nine administrative and maintenance employees.

But Lukevich said he hopes the resignations will make for a smooth transition as a new group of leaders takes over to try to salvage the 33-year-old organization.

"Above all else, we wanted the kids to continue playing soccer," Lukevich said.

The soccer association serves 6,500 young athletes from Redmond, Kirkland and Sammamish. The organization holds a contract with the county to operate 16 fields, rents office space in Kirkland and owns 112 acres of farmland. It is more than $1 million in debt after various failed investments and business ventures.

With the exception of the association's former executive director, Robert Young, the eight board members had been serving on an interim basis. Young couldn't be reached to comment yesterday on his resignation.

The board's last action before stepping down was to appoint Joel Hussey as the association's president. Hussey is the father of four soccer players and president of a newly founded rival association, Lake Washington United.

Meeting tonight The Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association is expected to name new board members at a general meeting at 7:30 tonight at Lake Washington High School's Cadle Theater, 12033 N.E. 80th St., Kirkland.

Other positions, including board members and officers, will be elected at the association's general meeting tonight at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland.

The Washington State Youth Soccer Association suspended the original board members and Young, a nonvoting board member, in September. The suspension was in response to the board's decision to ban a player from his team because the player's father had questioned the association's finances in a manner that offended some staff members. In a temporary order, a King County Superior Court commissioner later reinstated Young and the board.

A final blow came earlier this month, when the state organization expelled the Lake Washington association, leaving the fate of its young players undecided.

Hussey was optimistic yesterday, saying the organization has options ranging from trying to continue as the Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association to morphing into the new Lake Washington United.

Lake Washington United will find out Saturday whether it will be granted affiliation with the state youth-soccer association. But whatever happens, the area will have only one affiliated soccer association, Hussey said.

Hussey said he also plans to meet with the association's bank to try to reopen a line of credit the association had been using to operate. The bank had suspended the account.

In the meantime, Hussey said, some employees who had been laid off are now working for free to keep the organization going.

Kelly Kearsley: 206-464-2112 or kkearsley@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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