In response to this state of affairs, the Metropolitan Oval Foundation was formed to save this historic site. The non-profit organization led by Jim Vogt, a longtime Queens native, and Chuck Jacob and Valerie Jacob, two New York lawyers dedicated to the restoration of historic soccer fields across the city, raised enough money to save the field from foreclosure. In addition, Nike and U.S. Soccer Foundation each contributed $250,000 towards the construction of a FieldTurf field and new lights for the complex. FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who visited the Met Oval in November 2001 after the field was resurfaced, called FieldTurf the "future of football."
