Boston Legacy FC scores with trip to the State House

Boston Legacy FC scored a win last Thursday — at the State House, not on the soccer pitch.

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The Senate voted to add an amendment offered by Senator Mike Brady of Brockton to a wide-ranging economic development bill that would allocate $2.5 million for the Boston Legacy Performance Center, the training complex that Boston Legacy is building in Brady’s home city.

The team was well represented on the Senate floor for the vote; team general manager Domènec Gausch even addressed the senators. Gausch rattled off some milestones for Boston Legacy, a women’s soccer team in its first year, playing in Foxborough and Pawtucket while construction of a new stadium in Franklin Park is underway: the team just had its first sellout crowd, and its first-ever road victory. He said the team is proud to represent Boston on and off the field, thanked the senators for their support, and suggested that the lawmakers come to a match this season.

“Soccer has a unique power to bring communities together,” Gausch told them. “We just witnessed that with the men’s World Cup. … Boston Legacy FC carries that same spirit forward.”

Gausch was joined by majority owner Jennifer Epstein, president Jennifer van Dijk, and director of recruitment Edward Gallagher. At least four players attended: Nichelle Prince, Josefine Hasbo, Bianca St-Georges, and Alba Caño.

Before the vote, the amendment was redrafted so that the money for the training center would go through something called the Leto Fund, though it’s not clear what fund is. (A team spokesperson didn’t know, and there is no such fund listed in the state attorney general’s charity database. Brady’s office didn’t return messages seeking comment.)

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In a speech to the Senate, Brady described the Boston Legacy project as a way to provide an economic boost to his city and area, and also provide new fields for the community’s youth.

“Look in the stands at any match, and you’ll see young girls and young women watching in awe,” Brady said in his speech. “They’re not just watching a match. They’re watching their own future possibilities.”

The House did not include money for the Boston Legacy project in its version of the economic development bill, so the earmark’s fate will be decided through House-Senate negotiations in the coming weeks.

This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene.

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