Link Moderie knew something had to be done to upgrade the Polson Youth Soccer facility.

According to Moderie, playing the games at Kerr Dam required them to upgrade their facilities to host leagues ranging in ages from 12-year-old girls and boys all the way to 19-year-old girls and boys.

Moderie and several other instrumental people involved went to work to try to enhance the youth soccer facility. They cultivated nine acres of land and it took them ten years to bring the Polson Youth Complex facility, right next to the Mission Valley Aquatics Center, to fruition.

“Building the complex was more out of necessity because playing at the Kerr Dam was like playing in a swamp and this complex was an absolute necessity to play,” Moderie said.

The new 9-acre complex, which was built on 20 acres of land, can now host nine games at a time.

“I think once people realize the type of facilities we have here, the more people will come up and play here,” Moderie said. “The other facility was just so nasty and muddy that no one wanted to come and play here.”

Moderie acknowledged several key people that he credited with helping complete the project

Moderie said there were too many people that helped build this to thank but he said Dan Eastman and Joslyn and Mark Shackleford from Alpine Landscaping Company were instrumental in helping create the fields he hopes will enhance youth soccer in Polson and the surrounding Mission Valley.

Moderie said they aren’t finished in their attempt to raise money to pay for the new facility.

“We have quite a bit of money tied up and the fundraising is ongoing,” Moderie said. “I hope eventually we can continue to raise enough money to have an indoor soccer complex so people in Polson and the surrounding area would be able to play soccer year round.”

Modrie thinks the new soccer facility offers opportunity to help pump money into the local economy.