BY CRAIG GILBERT
Greater Sudbury needs more soccer fields, and just shelled out $50,000 for a new multi-field facility at Ecole secondaire Sacre Coeur to prove it.
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The cityÂ?s general manager of citizen and leisure services, Caroline Hallsworth, said the Conseil scolaire catholique de Nouvel Ontario has been planning the field complex that will be a part of the new school at the corner of Notre Dame and Kathleen for some time.
Council agreed last week to commit $50,000 to the $305,183 project. The school board is footing $230,183 of the bill and the Sudbury Regional Competitive Soccer League and Sudburnia Soccer League (pending executive approval) each have committed $12,500.
Hallsworth said the leadership and support of those groups has been very important to the booming soccer scene in Sudbury.
The field at the school has been completely re-landscaped. The parking lot next to the tennis courts will be grassed over along with the rest of the lot. The fields are scheduled to be ready for the 2004 soccer season. There will be two mini-fields, two main fields and a practice field. There will be no lights as yet at the field.
The city will have a joint use agreement to share the fields with the school board similar to those it has with Lasalle Secondary and the Chelmsford Valley District Composite School.
Hallsworth said multi-field facilities are greatly needed around the city because they are used for tournament events like those commonly convened at the Lily Creek fields on Paris Street.
Another advantage of more fields in the city is being able to take a high-traffic field off of the schedule for the season every few years.
Â?You can see at the end of the season at some fields like Lily Creek there are bald patches,Â? Hallsworth said.
Like a farmer rotating his crops, she said, city staff can re-seed and fertilize the field while it is off limits and get it ready for a few more years of steady soccer action.
About 6,000 adults and children register for soccer in Sudbury each year.
Â?There is a critical shortage of high quality fields for games and practices and it is a challenge to meet the scheduling needs of the many soccer clubs in the community,Â? a report from the city reads.
Â?This [joint use] cooperation between the school boards and the City of Greater Sudbury has been an important component of our successful leisure and recreation programs and it is appropriate that the City of Greater Sudbury contribute capital funds to enhance our inventory of community play fields.Â?
