Win-win partnership: Portland Monarchs to play in Silverton

By Steve Ritchie

Are you ready for some spring football, Silverton?

One of the top minor league football teams in the country, the Portland Monarchs, is making Silverton its home for the 2011 season. The Monarchs’ first home game is Saturday, April 30 against the Portland Raiders.

The Monarchs, who play in the South Division of the Greater Northwest Football Association, will play all five regular season home games – and any home playoff games – at Silverton High School’s McGinness Field this spring and summer.

Two-time defending league champions, the Monarchs have been a dominant team in the Northwest. The team’s record is 39-4 over the past three seasons, with two of the four losses coming in post-season play against teams from other leagues. The Monarchs were undefeated in league in 2009 and 2010, and ended the season ranked as the number two minor league team in the U.S.

Silverton resident Heath and Michelle Wharton founded the Monarchs in 2005. The team began in Salem, but later moved to the Portland area, and, since 2009, have played their home games at Milwaukie High School.

Their practices are at the Nike campus in Beaverton.

Heath Wharton has been involved in the Greater Northwest Football Association for 14 years, as a player, a league administrator, board member, and general manager/owner of the Umpqua Valley Knights before his involvement with the Monarchs. For four years, he served as the vice commissioner of the league.

Wharton said the team’s move to Silverton had its roots in a large donation of Nike equipment and gear that the team made to local schools and organizations.

“We originally planned to move to a smaller community,” Wharton said. “We were fortunate to negotiate a deal with Brand Athletics, a huge Nike dealer. They had a huge warehouse of stuff. We offered to come in and buy it and under the terms of the deal we had to donate it – about 12 trailer loads. It amounted to about $75,000 of equipment, uniforms and shoes and that was divided between Silverton and Mount Angel (schools and organizations).”

The large donation got people’s attention.

Wharton said that several folks associated with the youth organizations and teams that benefited from the gift began asking him questions about the Monarchs and suggesting he move the team to Silverton.
“Not long after that I got a call from the high school AD and they wanted to talk to us about moving down here,” Wharton said.

Silverton High School Athletic Director Greg Kaatz said, “It will be an opportunity to use the football stadium out of season and that is kind of one of the discouraging facts that we have with our facility. (It’s) a beautiful facility and you only get to use it a few times a year, so anytime we can take advantage of the facility we want to.”

Kaatz and Wharton both say the 2011 season could be just the beginning of a long-term connection.

“If this works out this year for both sides, they want us to sign a long-term lease and officially change our name to the Silverton Monarchs and this would become our official home,” said Wharton, who added that the relationship is “absolutely” a win-win situation for the football team and the local community.

“We are going to take over the cost of maintenance for the football field,” Wharton said. “On top of that, 20 percent of the net revenue from the gate and the concessions goes directly to the high school athletic department. An additional 30 percent of concessions net revenue goes to the Silver Fox Foundation.”

Katz adds the general community could also benefit from the influx of out-of-town visitors.

“Silverton is off the beaten path so anytime you can get folks here for an event it is good . . . they could eat at a restaurant, stay at the Garden or whatever,” he said. “The biggest gate during the (high school) football season is 2,500 people. The projection for a Monarchs’ game is for 1,600 to 2,000 people.”

Ticket prices for Monarchs’ home games are $10, but fans can purchase a season ticket to all five games for just $30, and, according to Wharton, those season passes will be honored for playoff games as well.

“There are five home games and possibly three home playoff games – you can’t guarantee that we would have home field advantage, but we have a pretty good track record and hope that we would have that throughout the playoffs. We could have the league all-star game here too.”

“If you bring a non-perishable food item to the gate,” Wharton said, “you pay only $7 for admission, and we take all of those food items and donate them to the Silverton Area food bank.”

Wharton says the team is happy to use the high school facility in Silverton, and is committed to working with the school district to make necessary upgrades.

“Personally I would play in a cow pasture if it were football, but that’s just me,” Wharton said. “We are trying to help them out with some improvements on that facility. “

Kaatz is also excited about the budding partnership and the long-term potential for facility upgrades.

“They have been really, really good to work with to this point,”  Kaatz said. “They have been helping us with some of the projects at the stadium. One of the projects we are taking a look at is trying to get the press box up on the roof of the stadium  . . . they have some resources that are available to them that we don’t have.

“This is something we are doing on a trial basis and if it works out it is something we would like to continue doing. We’ll see how it unfolds.

“We’re pretty excited – it’s uncharted territory for us.”