Far Post Moves to New Home effective September 1, 2006

 The Board and management of Far Post Soccer Club are pleased to announce our new home at the Champlain Valley Exposition beginning September 1, 2006. Together with the Expo and Nordic Spirit Soccer Club, we'll be establishing the Champlain Valley Soccer Center in the current Robert E. Miller Expo Center.

 We're very excited about this news and hope that the details in the following frequently asked questions will help you to be just as excited, too! Watch for more details and announcement of our grand opening in the near future.

Frequently Asked Questions About Our Move

1. Background from the board & management
2. Where is Far Post's new home?
3. Why is Far Post moving?
4. Can't you get more time and space from Sports & Fitness?
5. Have you looked at acquiring our own building?
6. How did you connect with Nordic?
7. How can two clubs remain independent in the same complex?
8. What will happen to the indoor soccer leagues both clubs have?
9. Does this mean Far Post and Nordic are merging?
10. Why didn't both clubs look to occupy space jointly elsewhere?
11. Artist's rendering, layout
12. Does the move affect our outdoor activities?

Background from the board & management

 The Far Post Soccer Club board and management have explored possibilities for bringing the dream of our own indoor facility to reality for quite a few years. But it was during a strategic planning process facilitated by an outside consultant in 2005 that our pursuit began to take form as it was agreed that this needed a heightened focus and effort in order to become reality.

Far Post Soccer Club has grown to be the largest travel team club in Vermont, at well over 400 players. That growth, combined with educational activities and a very successful indoor Futsal league has created increased demands for time and space unavailable to us at our present location. Additionally, these activities bring about a related need for larger and more professional administrative office and storage space than is available to us presently. Lengthy and detailed studies of many options bring us to the announcement of our new home at the Champlain Valley Soccer Center at the Champlain Valley Exposition beginning September 1, 2006. Following are frequently asked questions that we hope will help you become as excited about this major development for our Club as all of us on the board and staff.

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Where is Far Post's new home?

Our new field house is the north building of the Robert E. Miller Expo Center at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction. It will accommodate the equivalent of 3 Futsal fields and related viewing areas. Besides storage space, the field house also provides multiple modern and large restrooms and locker rooms, and a concession area with elaborate kitchen facilities.

Our administrative offices will be on the second floor of this building, accessed from the main entrance foyer located between the north and south buildings. Besides a private office suite, we have use of a conference room for meetings, a large function room for special events, and related kitchen and restroom facilities.

Nordic Spirit Soccer Club will occupy the south building of the complex.

The entire complex will be prominently labeled with signage and referred to as the Champlain Valley Soccer Center.

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Why is Far Post moving?

Simply, we’ve outgrown the space and time available to us at Sports & Fitness Edge in Williston.

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Can't you get more time & space from Sports & Fitness?

Not substantially enough to meet our growing needs. The annual scheduling process with Sports & Fitness becomes more challenging as we try to balance Far Post field house needs against Sports & Fitness’ desire to accommodate other field house activities. We have offered to rent the entire field house, including the existing baseball areas, but the Sports & Fitness business desire is to be identified as a multi-sport and multi-function community field house. Obviously, they derive revenues from other activities.

We have rented space at other Sports & Fitness locations from time to time, but it has been limited to basketball court surfaces. Their only other indoor turf location is the Fitness Edge Farrell Street location (formerly Twin Oaks), which Sports & Fitness has preferred to reserve for tennis use.

Besides pursuing rental of the entire field house, we have: 

•  Sought expansion of the present building,
   

•  Requested more office and storage space,
   

•  Asked to use the turf surface at Twin Oaks,
   

•  Asked for the current worn field house surface to be replaced due to safety issues,
   

•  Asked about the possibility of expanding the present building and/or adding a “bubble” covered turf surface other Sports & Fitness locations.

In all of these we expected to have to participate somehow financially to partially offset landlord capital expenditures for improvements.

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Have you looked at acquiring our own building?

We’ve spent approximately the past two years exploring options for acquiring our own building, or renting one. After extensive financial analysis it’s clear that ownership of a new or existing building in Chittenden county is far beyond our reach.

We also examined several options for rental and renovation of existing buildings. There are very few clear-span buildings in the area (buildings without supports obstructing the layout of indoor fields). After extensive study we arrived at the following conclusions:
 

• Following renovation and rent of an existing building, or a new construction, it is simply not financially viable to support such a venture with soccer revenues from the winter months only, even with substantial financial considerations from a generous landlord.
   

• In warm weather, soccer players want to be outside on a large field, thus leaving 12 months of rent, maintenance, insurance and other expenditures funded by less than 6 months of revenue generating activities. Additionally, besides weekends, use during those 6 months is limited to mostly evening hours during weekdays.
   

• Other tenants, or alternative revenue generating activities, must be added to any stand-alone venture we explored. Unfortunately, the vast majority of compatible indoor field activities need space during the same times of day and seasons we do. We also explored warm weather use or those that wouldn’t interfere with indoor soccer use. They would mostly require substantial investments of capital (basketball courts, running tracks, etc.), with uncertain revenue potential.
   

• No matter how optimistically we looked at sponsorships, rentals, new activities and our own aggressive business forecast we couldn’t make a viable and realistic building rental or purchase work without great financial risk to Far Post. On average, we easily came up short on an annual basis by approximately $140,000 or more, even after increasing travel team fees, indoor league participation, educational activities, etc. That equates to an additional $350/year per travel team player. And it doesn’t include conducting a capital campaign to pay approximately $100,000 in field house fit-up costs, no to mention additional office space fit up.
   

• We would have to allocate a great deal of time and resources to supporting questionable non-soccer related activities detracting from our educational mission.
   

• Creating yet another indoor soccer location in Chittenden county would over saturate the market and create great risk to all.

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How did you connect with Nordic?

Nordic heard of our interest in looking for alternative space and contacted us to begin a discussion. We discovered common ground as follows:

• We sought space providing greater flexibility.
   

• Nordic occupies two field houses at the Champlain Valley Exposition that, taken together, were too big for its needs.
   

• We both operate competing indoor soccer leagues that, when combined, will be the largest indoor soccer program in Vermont and will maximize league quality while minimizing overhead.
   

• The Expo location provides Far Post with much needed professional office space, use of a meeting facilities, kitchen facilities, storage space, and exclusive use of an entire field house for the indoor season.

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How can two clubs remain independent in the same complex?

Far Post and Nordic will not share office space and will conduct their club-specific training and functions in their own respective buildings. An agreement between the clubs will prevent us from directly soliciting each other’s players and employees, and will coordinate other activities (special sessions and events, etc.) so that they are not in direct competition with each other.

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What will happen to the indoor soccer leagues both clubs have?

They will be combined into one, managed by Far Post under an operational agreement between the clubs, with an advisory committee composed of representatives of both clubs to address policy, scheduling, etc. Nordic’s current boarded field will be eliminated and all games will be played as Futsal. We will conduct a combination of primarily 5v5 games, along with 7v7 or larger field games, on as many as 6 fields at a time.

By combining the two largest indoor soccer leagues in the area we will improve the quality of experience for all of our players. Volumes will allow better matching of teams of similar abilities, and more flexibility in scheduling and alternative field sizes will be possible.

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Does this mean Far Post and Nordic are merging?

Absolutely not. Both clubs are adamant about remaining separate and independent, while maximizing economies of scale and creating a focal point of soccer in Vermont . . . the Champlain Valley Soccer Center.

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Why didn't both clubs look to occupy space jointly elsewhere?

Far Post, Nordic and the Champlain Valley Exposition are entering a long-term affiliation for all of our mutual benefit. All three entities are non-profits with education as a primary mission. We have all common needs and interests from which to benefit.

The Expo and the two clubs will announce the joint opening of the Champlain Valley Soccer Center jointly to the public through the media. The Expo has offered use of its professional public relations staff to assist in this effort.

The Expo also has long-range major development plans that might provide for special outdoor soccer related events such as large exhibition matches and such. Additionally, as three non-profit educational entities we have the option of pursuing grants and other fundraising for development and special projects that benefit the clubs, the Expo, and our players directly.

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	For more detailed information about our new location, visit: Champlain Valley Exposition Robert E. Miller Expo Center (Champlain Valley Soccer Center)

Does the move affect our outdoor activities?

For this season we'll continue to utilize town recreational fields (primarily South Burlington and Williston) for travel team outdoor training and education programs, camps and clinics.  We are grateful to the City of South Burlington and the Town of Williston for working with us each year.  Outdoor field space is tight, however and we continue to explore options including possible future field rental at the Tree Farm Facility in Essex.