Partner Profile: Eugene Timbers Fútbol Club

February 9, 2016

Eugene Timbers Fútbol Club is a local soccer organization that provides opportunities for young athletes to develop their soccer skills through competitive leagues, camps, clinics, tournaments, and academies. ETFC is also home to local women’s professional soccer team, ETFC Azul. We recently sat down with ETFC’s Director of Coaching, Jurgen Ruckaberle, to learn more about the club.

Founded in 2006, ETFC provides soccer education programs for children ages 4-18. They offer the Little Timbers program for ages 4-10, the Academy for ages 8-10, and competitive, year-round teams for athletes in the U11-U18 age groups. ETFC also hosts Azul, a women’s professional soccer team that plays in the Northwest Division of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL). Azul is comprised of women ages 18-30, the majority of whom are college athletes seeking ways to keep their skills sharp during the off-season.

The club’s youth program currently serves between 800 and 900 kids every year. When asked about the club’s mission, Ruckaberle said that their coaches, “try to instill passion for the game [in our players] and try to teach the game at a very high level. We’re not a club that emphasizes winning over development.” Ruckaberle notes that the goal of the club is to teach kids how to be good athletes and good citizens. In addition to teaching players about soccer, ETFC coaches strive to teach young athletes the importance of respect, hard work, sportsmanship, and accountability.

Currently, Eugene Timbers hold their practices and games at the Lane Community College soccer fields and at school fields around Eugene. This can pose a problem for Ruckaberle and the rest of the coaching staff when other fall and spring sports begin and “fields become very crowded.” Jurgen hopes to utilize the new field and grandstands at Civic Park for both the youth programs and Azul games, “I envision lots of opportunities for us to rent the field throughout the year.” Ruckaberle noted that the field would be a perfect location to host Azul’s home games as well as hosting youth soccer camps, annual tournaments, and local youth soccer games.

Eugene Civic Alliance is excited to welcome ETFC’s hundreds of young athletes and the elite athletes of Azul to Civic Park. The new field and grandstands will provide an excellent venue for kids and adults alike to enjoy local soccer at the youth and professional level. To find out more about ETFC or to register your child for an upcoming league or camp, visit their website.