THE 2023 TIMBERS WONDERLAND GINGERBREAD HUNT

Turn your holiday season and the season of giving into a big win for the Soccer City family—and maybe for you!

For almost 20 years, the Benson Hotel’s annual holiday gingerbread house—which is much more than a house—has featured little details showcasing bits of Timbers, Thorns, Timbers Army, and Riveters culture. This year, the Benson is teaming up with Operation Pitch Invasion to turn this delightful holiday tradition into a chance to do some good for the local youth soccer community.

You are invited not only to visit the Benson Hotel’s display—which is free and a treat in itself—but to find all the hidden goodies in it and submit a list of what you’ve found for a chance to win a basket of signed PTFC gear and No Pity Originals surprises. In addition, if your entry is accompanied by a minimum $10 donation to OPI, you’ll be eligible to win a second basket of signed PTFC items and limited-edition No Pity Originals gear, including an original USL scarf.

HOW TO ENTER

1) Visit the Benson Hotel at 309 SW Broadway (free of charge), find the gingerbread display in the lobby, and make note of each item in it that is specifically a reference to the Timbers, Thorns, Timbers Army, Riveters, or Soccer City USA.

2)To be eligible to win the FIRST basket of signed PTFC items and some No Pity/Riveters gear, visit the Benson Hotel on Instagram (@thebensonhotel) and comment on THIS POST with the number of items you’ve found.

3) If you wish to enter the raffle for the SECOND basket (which includes at least one USL-era scarf), do the above AND send a donation of $10 minimum to OPI at this PayPal LINK. Select “PITCH INVASION GENERAL FUND” in the drop-down menu on the donation page. For each $10 you donate, you will receive one entry in the raffle ($10 = 1 entry, $50 = 5 entries, etc.).

4) All entries and donations must be received by midnight, December 31, 2023. Winners of the first basket will be selected at random from among those who have correctly identified all of the hidden items in the gingerbread display; winners of the second basket will be selected at random from among those who have correctly identified the number of items AND have donated to OPI.

5) Prize-winners will be contacted via the email used on the donation page and instructed on how to claim their prizes.

*This contest is open to anyone except employees of the Benson Hotel, Portland Thorns, and Portland Timbers, and members of the board of Operation Pitch Invasion.

ABOUT OPI

Since 2010, Operation Pitch Invasion has built, restored, and maintained soccer surfaces in scores of parks and schools throughout the area, from Forest Grove to Vancouver to Woodburn to Gresham to Beaverton – and all over the Portland city core. We’ve built brand new futsal courts at more than 20 parks and schoolyards, and we’ve had dozens of field days during which our volunteer crews have helped maintain and spruce up the soccer fields and the surrounding facilities at Portland parks.

OPI is a registered 501(c)3 corporation—100% volunteer-based and donation-funded. We can’t do any of our work without the support, both financial and physical, of our community. As the year winds down and you start thinking of ways to donate to worthy causes, please keep us in mind. (Especially if you work in an organization that does matching year-end donation for employee’s charitable contributions!)

Brentwood Park Gets Some TLC

OPI volunteers and Portland Parks & Rec joined forces to fix up Brentwood Park for the upcoming fall soccer season. Volunteers consisted of Timbers fans all the way from New York, as well as several youth players and families who use the fields when playing for Southeast Soccer Club. Our team painted goal posts, filled bare spots and holes, reseeded the field, painted lines, aerated the ground, and repaired sprinklers.

Thank you to all the volunteers and to Portland Parks for the ongoing partnership!

 

OPI Is Back in the Game

Remember us? Don't know us at all?

We're Operation Pitch Invasion. After a year of lockdown, we're back spreading the love and the grass seed and the goal frames, and doing everything we can to keep Portland Soccer City USA.

OPI was conceived more than 12 years ago as the ultimate expression of the Team-Town-Timbers Army (& Riveters!) ethos: a means to pour the elixir of the TA into the soil of the town we love and grow the game that brought us all together. Our mission is to use the resources of the North End to build, restore, and maintain soccer facilities in parks and schools.

We are focused on bringing safe, quality playing surfaces to neighborhoods that are otherwise under-served with recreation resources; on building community through creating and caring for soccer and futsal pitches; on offering healthy activity spaces for children and adults; and on developing talent in the hope of seeing kids who play on OPI surfaces suiting up for the Timbers, Thorns, and Team USA on the world's greatest stages.

In our 10 years of operation, we have built one significant artificial turf project, five major futsal complexes, and 11 blacktop futsal courts, and we have done restoration and maintenance work in more than 30 Portland parks and schoolyards. And we'll be adding to those numbers this summer.

Since our first endeavors in 2011, OPI has touched every quadrant of Portland, as well as communities in Gresham, Woodburn, and Forest Grove. We've worked with the Timbers and Thorns, youth soccer organizations, local governments and school districts, a variety of corporate and private donors, and footy fans of all stripes. We were the very first charitable endeavor endorsed by the 107 Independent Supporters Trust, and we humbly consider ourselves a vital thread in the fabric of our local soccer culture.

We have three main initiatives:

Another happy, sweaty crowd at the end of a Friends of Fields day in a Portland park

FRIENDS OF FIELDS: Our original project, bringing the muscle and might of soccer supporters into parks and schoolyards to restore grass surfaces, repaint field lines, spruce up goal hardware, and make pitches more attractive and more playable. To date we have visited literally dozens of Portland parks and schoolyards, some multiple times.

At Robert Gray Middle School in Portland, one of our many Project Blacktop courts

PROJECT BLACKTOP: Putting futsal in schoolyards alongside basketball, four square, hopscotch, and kickball, and giving as many neighborhoods as possible a dedicated court where dreams of championships can start to take shape. Working with the support of the 107ist and the Portland Youth Soccer Association, we have installed courts at Col. Summers Park in Portland, at Astor, Arleta, Bridger, Lent, Kelly, Rigler, Robert Grey, and Woodlawn schools in Portland, and at Barnes and Beaver Acres schools in Beaverton. This summer, we will add Portland's Capitol Hill and Peninsula schools to the inventory.

Snake Court at Vance Park in Rockwood, the first Fields For All project

FIELDS FOR ALL: In partnership with the Stand Together community program of the Portland Timbers and Thorns, and a number of generous corporate sponsors, we build beautiful, long-lasting, dedicated futsal complexes composed of two new colorful asphalt courts inside full fencing -- true first-class destination sites. These beautiful courts can be found at King School/Park in Portland, Vance Park and the Boys and Girls Club in the Rockwood community of Gresham, Tom McCall school in Forest Grove, and Woodburn High School.

Bless Field, opened for play in 2014

We also built BLESS FIELD, a stand-alone artificial turf complex serving the New Columbia community, the Regents Boys and Girls Club, and Rosa Parks Elementary in North Portland.

Want to learn more, help out, or be part of this great enterprise in some way, shape or form?

Oh good! Opportunities abound!

You can also help support us financially simply by shopping. Make OPI a beneficiary of your Amazon purchases by opting into the Amazon Smile program, which donates a portion of every purchase you make on that site to the charity of your choosing.

Otherwise, subscribe to our email list (we won't bombard you, promise) to stay informed about our latest initiatives and projects, including volunteer opportunities. (We’re doing a Friends of Fields day at Ed Benedict Park in SE Portland on August 1, 2021. Details and sign up here.)

However best suits you, please join us in extending the energy, spreading the love, bringing the magic, and keeping Portland Soccer City USA, one pitch and court at a time.

OPI BUILDS FOUR NEW FUTSAL COURTS IN SCHOOLYARDS IN PORTLAND AND BEAVERTON

Operation Pitch Invasion is pleased to announce that its Project Blacktop initiative has resulted in four new futsal (schoolyard soccer) courts in Portland-area schools.

The new courts are at Kelly School in SE Portland, Robert Gray School in SW Portland, Woodlawn School in NE Portland, and Beaver Acres School in Beaverton. In each, an existing area of blacktop was refreshed, lined for soccer, and supplied with goal frames, putting soccer on a par with basketball, kickball, and foursquare as an outlet for recess and after-school play.

“We believe that futsal is the future of American soccer,” says OPI board member Shawn Levy, “and we're proud to provide courts where kids can learn and play the game. We were founded by Portland soccer fans to build, restore, and maintain soccer surfaces in parks and schoolyards, and we plan to keep Project Blacktop going every year for the foreseeable future.”

Project Blacktop is undertaken with the cooperation of Portland Public Schools and the Beaverton School District. Financial support is provided by the 107 Independent Supporters Trust and the Portland Youth Soccer Association.

The four new courts join five Project Blacktop surfaces built previously by OPI at Arleta, Astor, and Lent schools in Portland, Barnes school in Beaverton, and Col. Summers Park in Portland.

OPI AND PORTLAND TIMBERS & THORNS BUILD NEW FUTSAL COURT IN FOREST GROVE, OR

Operation Pitch Invasion is pleased to announce that its Fields For All initiative, undertaken in partnership with the Stand Together program of the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns, has resulted in a new futsal complex at Tom McCall Upper Elementary School in Forest Grove, Oregon.

The new complex, consisting of two new futsal courts inside a fenced location on school grounds, was created by grinding up and remaking a pre-existing blacktop.

“We believe that futsal is the future of American soccer,” says OPI board member Shawn Levy, “and we're proud to provide courts where kids can learn and play the game. We were founded by Portland soccer fans to build, restore, and maintain soccer surfaces in parks and schoolyards, and along with the Timbers and Thorns we plan to keep Fields For All going for the foreseeable future.”

Fields for All is the result of an ongoing annual partnership between OPI and the Timbers and Thorns. Financial support is provided by adidas, KeyBank, and Providence Health & Services. The cooperation of the Forest Grove School District was essential to this year's project.

OPI and PTFC open futsal courts in Gresham

Shane Bemis Court is now open for play at the Rockwood Boys & Girls Club in Gresham, Oregon. The pair of futsal courts will support local youth programs and is open for community use. 

Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis joined Timbers players Diego Valeri and Diego Chara, Portland Thorns FC goalkeeper Adrianna Franch, Boys & Girls Club CEO Erin Hubert, OPI board members, Timber Joey and sponsors for a dedication ceremony.

This marks the third set of futsal courts from the Fields for All partnership of OPI and PTFC's Stand Together.  The project was supported by several community sponsors, including adidas, IKEA Portland, JELD-WEN Windows & Doors, KeyBank, Providence Health and Services, and city officials, including Mayor Shane Bemis who helped make the project a reality.

Art Without Pity - October 5th

Art piece by Seth Gale

Operation Pitch Invasion is excited to announce ART WITHOUT PITY: A TIMBERS ARMY AND ROSE CITY RIVETERS ART AND DESIGN SHOW opening on October 5 at Gallery 135. 

The exhibition will feature pieces from more than 30 local artists inspired by the Timbers Army, Rose City Riveters, and the Portland soccer culture. The show will premiere during the FIRST THURSDAY art gallery walk in Portland’s Pearl District and will offer for sale a limited-run Timbers Army-themed bandana and limited-run art print by Matti Johnsson. 

The original artwork will be developed in a variety of styles and media—from traditional paintings and photography to one-of-a-kind crafts and items—from artists Adam Mullett, Andrew Young, Andy Morris, Blakely Dadson, Camden Murray, Cameron Sandage, Chelsey Boehnke, Chris Haberman, Chris Streger, Colin Powers, Cory Coleman, Dan Gerhardstein, Eduardo Tecum, Hannah Mueller, Heather Noddings, Heidi Elise Wirz, Igor Mortis, Jackie Avery, Jake Pooler, Kendra Binney, Kerri Grassl, Lauren Wagner, Leila Chieko, Matt Leamy, Matti Johnsson, Michael Phillips, Murphy Phelan, Nate Tabor, Nic Eldridge, Nicole Scragg, Seth Gale, Thomas Bradley, Tim Weakland, Todd Saucier, Tom O'Toole, and Tyler Segel.

The show is being curated by Julie Roberts in partnership with Nate Tabor and Gallery 135 with all proceeds going to OPI. More updates can be found on the Art Without Pity Facebook event page.

Our new program and new look

We're proud to announce Project Blacktop, a low-cost, high-impact program that brings the beautiful game to schoolyards, putting soccer alongside basketball, kickball, and foursquare. Project Blacktop patches up existing schoolyard blacktop, applies lines for soccer, and installs removable goals, creating an attractive and flexible surface for futsal. 

We're also introducing our new logo and look, thanks to our incredible RCTID design partners, Factory North. Our new brand will help us as we grow our programs and look to the future to establish an OPI presence beyond Portland.

Read more in the press release.

As always, follow us at @OPIPDX on Twitter or on Facebook to hear about the latest OPI activities.

King's Court unveiled

On August 17, King's Court was officially opened to the public. The pair of new futsal courts at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School is the second project of Fields For All, a collaboration between Operation Pitch Invasion and Stand Together, the community outreach program of the Portland Timbers.

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales joined Timbers players Fanendo Adi, Taylor Peay, and Gbenga Arokoyo, club president of business Mike Golub, and city officials and sponsors for a special dedication ceremony. 

OPI volunteers hit posts in nine Portland parks

On Saturday, before it got too hot, 30-odd volunteers joined OPI and Portland Parks in sprucing up the soccer fields at nine parks all over the city. Meeting at Delta Park, the group was divided into small teams that were assigned to work at Ed Benedict, Bloomington, Clinton, Delta, Fernhill, Gabriel, Pier, Powell and Westmoreland Parks. At each park, goal frames were given a fresh coat of paint, top-to-bottom.

After finishing, the teams reconvened at Delta Park for a barbecue lunch put on for us by the Parks folks. Thanks to Steve Pixley and Shawn Lindsey of Portland Parks. And thanks, of course, to all our volunteers. Projects like this are the foundation of Operation Pitch Invasion, the sort of thing that started us, and the sort of thing we will always do.

Our next field day is August 23, at Rigler School in NE Portland, where we will do a complete refurbish of the field itself.

Details and sign-up form can be found here: http://ow.ly/zF9J6

Bless Field officially open

Bless Field—a long-time Operation Pitch Invasion dream—is now open for play. On June 14, OPI was joined by young footballers from the New Columbia neighborhood and our biggest donors and fans to officially open Bless Field.

Among many other highlights, Portland Timbers President of Business Operations Mike Golub and 107 Independent Supporters Trust president Scott Swearingen announced their committment to help OPI realize similar projects in coming years, along with restated commitments for future support by Providence Health and Services and the Portland Development Commission.

Learn more about the event in the following articles and videos:

Timbers, Timbers Army help fund new children's soccer field in North Portland (Oregonian)

A New Place To Kick It (Portland Mercury)

New field is a blessing in North Portland (Portland Tribune)

Timbers and Operation Pitch Invasion open Bless Field (Portland Timbers – video)

Bless Field Ribbon Cutting Recap (Timbers Army)

Bless Field opens in North Portland (Providence)

None of this could have been possible without the financial and community support of the following:

107ist

Portland Timbers Football Club

Providence Health & Services

Widmer Bros.

Portland Development Commission

FieldTurf

Adidas

LifeWise

Daimler

Factory North

Oregon Premier League

TripWire

Knowledge Universe

105 Howitzers

The Duane Graf Family

Underdog Sports

Eleventy Ones

Pitch Invasion

And all the other many generous donors like you!

Our shared vision of spreading the love of the beautiful game across the Portland Metro area is now firmly in action. To help us keep the momentum going, volunteer, donate or help spread the word.

• Sign Up. If you aren't already on our mailing list, please sign up. We won’t spam you and you can unsubscribe at any time, but we will keep you informed of our progress, volunteer opportunities and ideas on how you can help on this and other OPI projects.
• Share. Love soccer? Want to support Portland’s youth? Then grab the link to this page and email your friends, post on Facebook, share on Twitter…whatever works for you. Help us get the word out to people about this and other OPI projects.
• Follow. Give us a follow on Twitter @OPIPDX and keep an eye on our blog to stay up on OPI news.
• Donate. Bless Field may be complete, but we have more projects in the hopper, as well as ongoing fundraising needs. The most direct way you can help is to send a few bucks our way. Every little bit makes a difference. Head on over to our donation form or contact us directly to make a donation.

YOU'RE INVITED: OFFICIAL BLESS FIELD RIBBON-CUTTING & DEDICATION

Operation Pitch Invasion is proud to invite you to the dedication and ribbon-cutting for Bless Field, a celebration of Portland, soccer, and community, and the dawn of a new field of dreams in Oregon's most diverse neighborhood.

• WHERE: Bless Field, at the intersection of N. Trenton St. and N. Woolsey Ave. in the New Columbia community of North Portland
• WHEN: Saturday, June 14, 10 am (arrival/coffee/schmoozing from 9:30 am)
• WHAT: Dedication and ribbon-cutting: Speakers to include representatives of the 107 Independent Supporters Trust, Portland City Council, Portland Timbers, Home Forward, and Providence Health & Services. (Approximately 1 hour total) Followed by a kick-around for the kids for whom the field was built.
• NOTE: Parking is on-street only; carpooling and public transit encouraged.

Bless Field is a 9000-square foot turf field built adjacent to the Regence Boys and Girls Club and Rosa Parks Elementary. Named for pioneering Timbers Army icon Hartmut Bless, it is designed, optimally, for teams of 10-year-olds and younger, and it will be used by several youth soccer programs currently operating in the community (it will be available to others during non-reserved hours). Bless Field will be a place where the international language of soccer and the Timbers Army's unique brand of spirit and energy will combine to welcome newcomers to the community and offer recreation and life opportunities to boys and girls who could even -- maybe someday -- play for the Timbers and Thorns at Providence Park.

The project has received support from the 107 Independent Supporters Trust, the Portland Development Commission, the Portland Timbers, Providence Health & Services, Adidas, Widmer Bros., LifeWise Health Plans of Oregon, Oregon Premiere Leagues, and other Portland-area organizations and individuals.

Bless Field is a project of Operation Pitch Invasion, a local, grass-roots charity formed to build, revitalize and maintain soccer fields throughout the Portland Metro area so that players of all ages and skill levels have high quality and safe playing surfaces to enjoy the beautiful game. Founded in 2011, OPI has done maintenance and repair work on more than one dozen Portland-area parks and schools. Bless Field is its first capital construction project. It is an Oregon public benefit nonmember, nonprofit corporation exempt from tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For more information, visit www.pitch-invasion.org or contact board@pitch-invasion.org.

Bless Field Officially Under Construction

We’re fully funded, permitted, and already breaking ground: Bless Field is officially transitioning from a fundraising project into a construction project. Work is underway with final touches expected early summer.

This vision couldn’t have gotten underway without our many donors and supporters who have given time, money, and attention. We’d especially like to thank:

107ist Portland Timbers Football Club Providence Health & Services Widmer Bros. Portland Development Commission FieldTurf Adidas LifeWise Daimler Factory North Oregon Premier League TripWire Knowledge Universe 105 Howitzers The Duane Graf Family Underdog Sports Eleventy Ones Pitch Invasion And all the other many generous donors like you!

Stay tuned for more announcements and our plans to officially open Bless Field.

OPI Awarded PDC Grant Benefitting Bless Field

BLESS FIELD AWARDED COMMUNITY LIVABILITY GRANT FROM PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Operation Pitch Invasion is delighted to share the news that its Bless Field project has received a significant boost from the Portland Development Commission in the form of a Community Livability Grant for $40,000.

Bless Field, an all-weather turf soccer field being built in the New Columbia community of North Portland, qualified for the grant as part of the PDC's program to award funding "to projects that involve physical improvements to community facilities, open spaces or historic/cultural preservation...(and)...improve livability for residents and enhance the unique nature of Portland neighborhoods."

PDC joins the Portland Timbers, the 107 Independent Supporters Trust, and Adidas as major supporters of Bless Field, bringing the project to more than 80% of full funding. Efforts to bring the project to completion continue, with several potential sponsors in talks to contribute significantly to realization of the final goal by year's end. OPI is confident that the involvement of PDC will be a factor in bringing other partners aboard.

OPI, a project of the 107ist, is a local, grass-roots charity formed to build, revitalize and maintain soccer fields throughout the Portland Metro area so that players of all ages and skill levels have high quality and safe playing surfaces to enjoy the beautiful game. OPI is an Oregon public benefit nonmember, nonprofit corporation exempt from tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Ticket Raffle Benefitting OPI & Bless Field

Bid the regular season goodbye with a couple more friends (well, a couple more than usual, that is) and help build Bless Field. As we near the end of a spectacular run through the MLS schedule, there's only one more sure chance to see the Timbers at JELD-WEN Field: Saturday, October 19 v Real Salt Lake.

(Yes, of course there will be playoffs, but bear with us here.)

The match is, of course, long sold out. But through the generous offices of several members of the Timbers Army, Operation Pitch Invasion has two pairs of TA General Admission tickets up for raffle. These don't include wristbands, free donuts or the chance to watch Sigi Schmid waddle up and down the sideline. But they DO include the chance to be part of the annual final-match tifo (always special), to see the Timbers lock up a playoff berth, to watch the boys in green put space between themselves and another western conference rival, and to jump and clap and sing for victory among the greatest football supporters the world has ever seen.

A donation of $5.00 gets you one entry in the raffle and a donation of $20 gets you 5 entries. Two winners will be selected and each winner receives a pair of TAGA tickets to the match. You can only purchase chances by making a donation to Operation Pitch Invasion via PayPal. The deadline to enter is Saturday October 19 at 12:00 noon. Winners will be notified by email shortly after the drawing. Include your Twitter handle in your PayPal order and we'll give you a congratulatory shout-out there too. 100% of proceeds go toward the support of Operation Pitch Invasion and the building of Bless Field.

Don't miss out on the chance to bring some old or new friends to what promises to be yet another magical night in Soccer City USA.

Thanks for your support!

Bless Field Update

We are overdue for an update about our Bless Field project. So let’s get to it.

• Beating Seattle. Our kickoff event, Beating Seattle Never Gets Old: A Benefit for Bless Field was a huge success. Close to 250 supporters came out to the Hollywood Theater to relive some classic Timbers moments from the past and hear from the players that lived that history including Willie Anderson, Bernie Fagan, Roger Goldingay, Mick Hoban, Bill Irwin and Jimmy Kelly. Beating Seattle raised over $3,500 and much more in awareness for the Bless Field project.




• Art Takeover. You all remember the amazing Factory North event Art Takeover poster project last year benefitting Harper’s Playground? Well Art Takeover is back for 2013 and its looking to be bigger and better than ever. This year’s event is scheduled for August 10 and will feature limited-run felt pennants featuring designs inspired by Timbers Army songs, past and present. In addition, a number of large-scale, Portland inspired flags will be sold by auction. Sponsorship and support from the 107 Independent Supporter’s Trust, Coava Coffee, Salt & Straw, Widmer, Actual Industries, Seizure Palace and many more promise to make for an awesome way to support Bless Field.
• Construction Update. Even though fundraising is far from complete, we’ve already begun investing your donation into Bless Field. Before construction can begin, we had to complete a survey of the site as well as a geotechnical soil analysis. The results of these two efforts will be used by our architecture firm, Group Mackenzie, to develop detailed construction designs that the contractor will use to build the field. Both these steps are complete and details construction drawings are underway. If you’ve been by the field in the last few weeks you may have noticed some work happening on the East side of the lot. This work relates to the bike hub and training paths operated by the Community Cycling Center and should not affect Bless Field.




• Bless Book. To assist help get the word out about Bless Field, OPI developed a interactive iBook packed with photos, videos and information about the project. If you have an iPad, you can download it for free from the Apple iBookstore. If you don’t have an iPad, you can get all the same information (without the fun videos, pictures and interactive features) in this PDF. Feel free to share this link with your friends and co-workers who are interested in learning more about Bless Field: http://bit.ly/BlessBook.
• Park Project Update. Unrelated to Bless Field, we’ve completed two park repair events so far this summer in Willamette Park and Lents Park. We’ve also supported field and grounds restoration work by the Timbers Army Football Club at Marshall High School and Franklin High School. We’ve even acquired some line-painting equipment to get those newly refinished pitches looking sharp prior to match day. While we had to drop our planned June park event due to City budget constraints, we are still hoping for another event late in the summer.

Expect to hear more in coming weeks about Art Takeover. Thanks for all your support. As usual, you can keep up with us on Twitter @opipdx or by keeping an eye on our blog.