Founded by Penny Merryfield - and with heavy prodding by Chris Long- in 2006, the Kimball County Soccer League wrapped up its third season just a few weeks ago. The league was started because Merryfield, Long, and Kristi Kelsch, were all searching for something more for kids to do in the summer. Long, who had kids that were active in soccer in Colorado, suggested starting a soccer league. “Our goal was to offer something else to the kids. Not everyone enjoys baseball,” said Merryfield. Baseball is a summer activity that draw many kids but leaves an equal amount not wanting to play.So they organized a meeting to see what kind of support they would get from parents and community members. “The response was overwhelming,” said Merryfield. Armed with the support of the community, Merryfield went to the city council to procure funding via a keno grant. “The mayor and the city council were supportive of our efforts,” she said. After gathering more money from the various donors and sponsors the first year went off with a bang. It was followed up by an even more successful year that saw more kids coming out to play. But family health problems pulled Merryfield’s focus from the league and forced her to step fully away. Still operating under the auspice of a board, the league held their third season with some hiccups, but overall a success. “Our biggest success was having all the kids come out to play,” said current board President, Dave Barnes. Barnes said that weather delayed the start of the season by a couple of weeks and made the first couple of games a bit on the chilly side. But the kids turned out, rosy cheeks and all, to play soccer and have fun. Head Coach Jared Dillon agreed with Barnes and added that coach involvement was huge this year as well. “The volunteer base, the patience from the parents, the refs and coaches, all volunteers, made this season a success,” said Dillon. Now that the league has had three successful years, the board of directors are looking for ways to expand it. “The kids get tired of playing each other over and over,” said Dillon.With that in mind the board is looking at different options to affiliate the league with a more established organization. By doing so, Barnes and Dillon said this would allow the kids to take part in games against kids from other towns. It will also allow for the coaches and refs to get training on the game of soccer. With there being multiple organizations to choose from, the board is taking it slow and eveluating all options. “For now it will remain a recreation league. Our goal is to eventually have at least one competition team,” said Dillon. Looking even further down the line, Barnes said it is his hope that one day Kimball High School will have a soccer league.“We had a petition signed by almost 60 high school students indicating they wanted to play,” said Barnes. But on the short side of goals, Barnes and Dillon said the board is looking into finding a more permanent field for the teams to play.“We need a home,” said Barnes, “We need a place that we know will be there.” Barnes said that the board has had conversations with some individuals regarding a more permanent field.