East Tacoma has a new soccer park and a World Cup legacy to go with it.

Visa Street Soccer Park — known by its Puyallup name wəléxʷildubutali, meaning "place to make yourself strong" — opened May 28 at the former Gault Middle School site.

The two mini-pitches were built through a partnership between the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Tacoma Public Schools, Street Soccer USA, Visa and Bank of America. Both the Puyallup Tribe and Tacoma Public Schools called the collaboration a first-of-its-kind arrangement.

The park is also equipped for blind soccer. Seattle FWC26, the local World Cup organizing committee, donated a set of regulation blind soccer kickboards sized for the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes, making the Tacoma site available for regional blind soccer training.

"What we wanted to do was figure out ways to take that attention and then harness it toward projects and partnerships that really help our community long-term," Leo Flor, chief legacy officer for Seattle FWC26, said at a July 7 news conference announcing World Cup legacy projects statewide.

The Puyallup Tribe became the first Indigenous group to partner with a World Cup host city when it announced the agreement in 2023.

Amy McFarland, the tribe's World Cup project director, has led the effort on behalf of the roughly 5,000-member tribe.

Seattle FWC26 contributed directly to 15 of the 52 new soccer fields built across Washington with RAVE Foundation support, including one at the Puyallup Tribe's Chief Leschi Schools and two at Lummi Nation Schools. The FIFA World Cup 2026 concludes July 19.

The west side of the former Gault site will house the new IDEA High School, a separate Tacoma Public Schools project.

Tacoma Public Schools said the mini-pitches are available to rent through TPS Facilities beginning this summer. Long-term, the district is in talks with Parks Tacoma about managing the field as a permanent community asset.