In a first-of-its-kind partnership, the Puyallup Tribe and Tacoma Public Schools, in partnership with Visa, Street Soccer USA and Bank of America, bring a new soccer park to Tacoma’s eastside.
The newly constructed Visa Street Soccer Park is located on the northeast side of the former Gault Middle School property, next to Tacoma Public Schools’ future IDEA school, and is part of a broader effort to invest in community spaces that support youth, health and connection through sport. Designed as an inclusive, community-first space, the park will provide a safe, accessible place for youth and families to play, gather and stay active.
The soccer park features two Bank of America fields with professional-grade turf and lighting for year-round activities and a learning center next to the fields of play. The two Bank of America fields can also be combined into a larger space to accommodate larger games.
This project reflects a shared commitment to creating lasting community impact through access to play. The Puyallup Tribe and Tacoma Public Schools worked together to identify the Gault Middle School site—located near Tribal Administration and long used as a place for recreation—as the right home for the park. That vision is complemented by broader efforts from partners including Visa, Street Soccer USA and Bank of America to expand access to free, community-based soccer spaces and programming across the United States.
The Tribe’s Language and Culture departments named the site wələx̌ʷildubutali, meaning “Place to make yourself strong,” a reflection of the park’s role as a space for growth, connection and community strength. The name is displayed at the park.
The soccer park is a commitment to long-term programming and play for local youth. The Puyallup Tribe of Indians, RAVE Foundation, Sounders FC, and Reign FC are teaming up with Street Soccer USA to provide ongoing programming at the soccer park. The goal is to foster a growing connection with the land on which the park sits, the youth it serves, and the larger region’s soccer community.
“We are excited to bring this awesome opportunity to grow the game of soccer on Tribal land,” said Puyallup Tribal Council, the Tribe’s governing body. “It will not only be a benefit to Tribal Members, but everyone in Tacoma.”
This project is also specifically sized to accommodate a set of regulation blind soccer pitch panels so that the field can serve as a regional training hub for the US Association of Blind Athletes, which manages the US Men’s Blind Soccer Team.
The park is available for free community enjoyment as a multipurpose playfield.
