NORTHERN VIRGINIA DAILY
By Mary Jordan
The Front Royal Soccer Association will soon be leaving the nest of the Warren
County Parks and Recreation Department, spreading its wings, and heading out
on its own.
Starting July 1, the Soccer Association will be independent, thanks to a vote
by the Board of Supervisors earlier this month.
“When Parks and Recreation took over the responsibility of running the
league some 12 years ago, I don’t think anyone envisioned the league staying
this long,” Soccer Association President Nick Crettier says in a news release.
“It’s time to leave the nest.”
Crettier said the association plans for the soccer complex to become part of
the Avtex redevelopment project and it wants to simplify its budget process.
It was just the right time, Crettier said.
“It was never the intention that we should always remain under the umbrella
of Parks and Recreation,” he said. “I think we’ve demonstrated
that we’re capable of running the organization.”
Front Royal turned over operation of the Parks and Recreation Department to
Warren County last year.
With the advent of the new soccer complex at Avtex, Crettier said it makes more
sense for the association to partake in fund raising projects on its own .
“With an eye towards the future soccer complex, the league needs to begin
fund raising in a serious and substantial way,” Crettier says in the release.
“By becoming an independent, non profit entity we can more effectively
solicit contributions from individuals and businesses by making their contributions
tax deductible.”
“In order to more efficiently manage the league, we feel it necessary to
get complete control over our own budget,” Crettier has said.
As it is now, the association must submit a yearly budget to Parks and Recreation.
Once submitted, there is little or no room for flexibility, Crettier said.
“If we project 550 participants and get 650, then we must make due with
a budget based on the former,” Crettier said. “Yet we still need jerseys,
balls, coaches and referees for the extra participants. We need the flexibility
to respond to needs as they arise.”
In the meantime, Crettier said the association will continue work in cooperation
with the Parks and Recreation Department because it will still be using the
departments facilities until it gets its own.