Seattle Impact

Seattle Impact FC was an American professional indoor soccer team that began play as a member of the Major Arena Soccer League with its 2014-15 season. Based in Seattle, Washington, the Impact played its home games at the ShoWare Center in nearby Kent.[1] After struggles on and off the field, the team's assets were sold mid-season to Lane Smith whose Tacoma Stars completed Seattle's scheduled 2015 regular season games.

Seattle Impact FC
Full nameSeattle Impact FC
Founded2014
Dissolved2015
GroundShoWare Center
625 West James Street
Kent, Washington 98032
Capacity6,500
Coordinates47°23′18″N 122°14′24″W
OwnerDion Earl
Head CoachDion Earl
LeagueMajor Arena Soccer League
WebsiteClub website

History

Originally, the team was going to be named the Tacoma Stars, in honor of the original Stars which played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League from 1983 until the league folded in 1992. However, because of a legal dispute with the Tacoma Soccer Center over ownership of said name,[2] owner Dion Earl abandoned these plans, choosing instead to name the team Seattle Impact FC (Seattle to represent the greater metropolitan area which also included Tacoma and Kent, and Impact at his wife's suggestion).[3]

Main article: 2014–15 Seattle Impact season

Jason Dunn, an Olympia native who played college soccer for Washington and Seattle Pacific and later for the American Professional Soccer League's Seattle Sounders and the indoor Seattle SeaDogs, was set to serve as the Impact's inaugural head coach.[4] Just before the regular season started, Dunn and assistant coach Todd Haley left the team after the Impact failed to make contractual payments due on October 25. Impact owner Dion Earl announced that he will serve as head coach as well as continue his role as a player.[5]

The planned "Ladies with Impact"[6] dance team disbanded when several members resigned after alleging that Impact owner Dion Earl made sexual advances towards them.[7][8] The dancers also claimed that the team had not paid them for their work. The dance team's former co-captain obtained a sexual harassment protection order against Earl from King County Superior Court Judge Chad Allred on October 22.[9] A large number of the players contracted to Impact quit in protest.[10] Earl denied the claims. Although no criminal charges were filed, Earl subsequently lost a civil suit brought by four former employees in a default judgment after he refused to attend the trial.[10]

On January 12, 2015, The Seattle Times revealed that Impact owner Dion Earl was negotiating to sell the struggling franchise to Lane Smith, owner of the Tacoma Stars of the semi-pro Western Indoor Soccer League.[11][12][13] The Impact sold the rights to its top players for cash during the negotiation period. The sale was completed on January 14, with Smith acquiring the team's assets but not the staff or player roster. The Tacoma Stars took over the Impact's remaining schedule and played their MASL home games at the ShoWare Center while continuing to also compete in the Western Indoor Soccer League.[14][15]

Year-by-year
League Champions Runners-Up Division Champions* Playoff Berth
YearLeagueRecordGFGAFinishPlayoffsAvg. Attendance
2014–15MASL3–10921386th, PacificNA739
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References
  1. Baker, Geoff (December 21, 2014). "Want to start an indoor pro soccer team? It's a tough business". The Seattle Times. Seattle, WA: The Seattle Times Company. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  2. ""MASL" could come to Kent; Tacoma Stars name likely court-bound". GoalWA.net. May 18, 2014. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  3. Ruiz, Don (July 8, 2014). "Seattle Impact FC welcomed to ShoWare Center". The News Tribune. Tacoma, WA: McClatchy. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  4. "Jason Dunn to be the Seattle Impact FC's Head Coach". Seattle Impact FC. July 4, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  5. Coyle, Ross (November 7, 2014). "Seattle Impact FC soccer coaches gone from team". Kent Reporter. Kent, WA: Sound Publishing. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  6. "Seattle Impact FC announces co-captains for dance team". Kent Reporter. Kent, WA: Sound Publishing. August 22, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  7. Ley, Tom (November 10, 2014). "Suit: Seattle Arena Soccer Team Owner Sexually Preys On Cheerleaders". Deadspin. New York City: Gawker Media. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  8. Heyrich, Donald. "Major Arena Soccer Litigation". HKM Employment Attorneys. Retrieved November 18, 2014. HKM Employment Attorneys LLP has been retained by former employees of the Seattle Impact FC and Major Arena Soccer League to pursue claims for sexual assault, sexual harassment, the creation of a hostile work environment, discrimination, retaliation, infliction of severe emotional distress, willful withholding of wages, and wrongful termination.
  9. Ruiz, Don (November 7, 2014). "Impact FC has traveled troubled road to opening day". The News Tribune. Tacoma, WA: McClatchy. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  10. "Former Seattle Impact owner Dion Earl ordered to pay nearly $1 million in lawsuit". The Seattle Times. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  11. Baker, Geoff (January 12, 2015). "Dion Earl looking to sell local rights and fold his MASL team". The Seattle Times. Seattle, WA: The Seattle Times Company. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  12. "Tacoma Stars owner approved by MASL; negotiations underway to go pro this season". Tacoma Stars. January 12, 2015. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  13. Weinstein, Arthur (January 13, 2015). "New Seattle soccer team could take over for another, concluding bizarre saga". Sporting News. Charlotte, NC: Perform Media. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  14. Baker, Geoff (January 14, 2015). "Tacoma Stars buy rights to return to the highest level of professional indoor soccer". The Seattle Times. Seattle, WA: The Seattle Times Company. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  15. Ruiz, Don (January 15, 2015). "Tacoma Stars replace Seattle Impact in top-tier MASL". The News Tribune. Tacoma, WA: McClatchy. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
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