by Kristen Milton
Staff Writer

The laser-leveled grounds are still immaculate, but the grass doesn't seem so green these days at the county's premiere soccer fields in Germantown.

Only two of the eight youth soccer clubs that play at the Maryland SoccerPlex in South Germantown Recreational Park have agreed to return for the fall season. The clubs cite season and tournament fees that have reached $300 per game.

Also at issue is the ousting this summer of the eight club representatives that have served as board members for the Maryland Soccer Foundation since it was established in 1999. The foundation operates the SoccerPlex and boasts 19 premiere fields.

Several of the more advanced travel teams have already relocated the first two games of the season, which begins Sept. 10, and the rest of the season remains in jeopardy.

"We're being told we have no say anymore; we're raising the price to outrageous levels; and we kind of hit the wall and said the business plan has obviously failed," said Rick Heilman, president of the Seneca Soccer Association, one of the holdout clubs. "... At some point you have to say enough is enough."

The county has assembled a mediation team to intervene in the standoff. Negotiations have been disappointingly slow, said team leader Trudye Morgan Johnson, executive director of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The commission leases the land for the complex to the foundation nearly rent-free.

"It would be a shame if we couldn't play there anymore, and that may happen," said Bernie Mihm of Poolesville, a member of the Seneca Soccer Association board of directors.

It is a point no one envisioned eight years ago when the fund-raising call was to "Give the kids a complex," he said.

At that time, area teams agreed to give $10 per player per season toward construction of the $19 million facility. It was an arrangement that ended in 2002 when clubs began to pay per game.

"That changed the dynamic," said Trish Heffelfinger, executive director of the foundation. "It was, 'We're in this together to build a dream.' Once we changed that it became much more 'What do we pay to play?'"

Although anticipated to be self-supporting within five years, the SoccerPlex has had money problems almost since its opening in 2000.

According to 2003 federal tax returns, the foundation showed a $1.4 million deficit that year. The largest expense was fertilizer at $144,892, followed by insurance at $137,105. Heffelfinger said the shortfall in the 2005 operating budget is expected to be $100,000. Forty-five percent of the complex's revenue goes to debt service, she said.

Dan Dean of Darnestown, father of a Bethesda Soccer Club player, said youth gain from the exceptional fields but he wonders whether the SoccerPlex administration is properly managing its funds.

"I hear a lot of complaining," Dean said. "Clearly the place is immaculate. I don't know if they're gilding the lily or what. It's beautiful, but people are wondering where is the money going?"

Rod Nubgaard, president of Seneca Sports Association, one of the two clubs that have agreed to continue play at the SoccerPlex, said the money is going to provide the high-quality fields desired by the clubs.

"I've reviewed the budget, and the costs were not out of whack, especially considering the standards the board set," said Nubgaard, who is resource director for the U.S. Coast Guard.

The clubs' per game fees were $288 for two years, and increased to $300 last season.

Area soccer clubs were more surprised by the foundation's decision that it was a conflict of interest to have club representatives serve as board members.

In June a vote was taken that will make the club representatives an advisory group instead.

Heffelfinger and Nubgaard, one of the outgoing board members who supports the change, said when the good of the SoccerPlex conflicted with the interests of the clubs, club loyalties often prevailed.

"I wouldn't say they've prevented us [from being self-supporting] but they haven't helped us to get there," Heffelfinger said. "We could use more of their help and their support to raise [the] sort of money" needed to sustain the SoccerPlex.

For example, Heffelfinger said she has asked repeatedly since 1999 for clubs to provide the names of potential donors.

"We never got a name," she said.

Heffelfinger also said the clubs often do not promote SoccerPlex events by sending announcements to their mailing lists.

While part of the foundation's financial problems can be traced to a failure to attract the corporate sponsorship and donations anticipated, she said the clubs could help mitigate the effects.

Heilman, of Seneca Soccer, said the clubs have "stepped up" whenever they have been asked, but the line keeps moving.

Johnson said her first priority was to have agreement on the fall season. Once there are players on the fields, she said, the remaining issues between the foundation and the clubs can be mediated.

"It would be a very sad occasion if those fields sat idle this fall," Johnson said. "It would be unbearable; so much went into creating them."

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