By Paul Doherty Sports Editor Morgan Hill – While San Jose
struggles to find decent soccer fields due to a shortage of turf
space, Morgan Hill’s ambitious $9 million sports complex on Condit
Road is bringing hope and a renewed sense of energy to eager soccer
players and fans. For three years a group of youth sports
representatives has worked with the Parks and Recreation Commission
and the Morgan Hill City Council to come up with a plan for
development of the Sports Complex on Condit Road next to the
Aquatics Center.
By Paul Doherty
Sports Editor
Morgan Hill – While San Jose struggles to find decent soccer fields due to a shortage of turf space, Morgan Hill’s ambitious $9 million sports complex on Condit Road is bringing hope and a renewed sense of energy to eager soccer players and fans.
For three years a group of youth sports representatives has worked with the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Morgan Hill City Council to come up with a plan for development of the Sports Complex on Condit Road next to the Aquatics Center.
In early 2007, city officials addressed cost issues and concerns from many sport groups including Pop Warner football, Pony Baseball, the Orchard Valley Youth Soccer League and volleyball and softball leagues.
The City Council voted to spend $9 million to install two artificial turf soccer fields, field lighting, a paved parking lot, a multi-use building housing a concession stand, restrooms, a small office space, bleacher seating and other amenities to complete phase one of the project.
The two artificial turf fields, according to the latest estimate, will be ready for use in mid-November at which time a grand opening ceremony will be held.
Don Mott, vice president of OVYSL, has been working intensely with the city in getting the project going.
“We started a little over 3 1/2 years ago with a lot of ideas coming from a lot of divergent groups,” Mott said.
Future “phases” of the complex project will include baseball and softball fields, but are years down the road, Mott said.
“Initially the city council had a $2 million budget, and (city leaders) intended to make (the project) a step-by-step process,” he said. “They decided to spend more money right now though for soccer fields … had they gone in two or three stages the escalating costs would have been a lot more than $9 million.”
Interstate Construction out of Finksburg, Md., the successful bidder on the project, has been working since May tearing out two natural grass fields to accommodate two artificial turf fields, installing water, sewer, and electrical infrastructure, preparing the parking lot area and erecting the multi-use building.
Nine natural grass fields are currently being used for soccer, and various teams are playing around the construction activity, encompassing 36 acres.
Maintenance costs for the complex will cost taxpayers around $175,000 a year, and will pay for watering, fertilizing, mowing and trash pick-up.
Additionally, the city will earn about $125 a day from renting the concession stand to organizations like the OVYSL, Mott said.
The California Youth Soccer Association-North (CYSA-N) owns and leases the natural grass fields on an exclusive basis for $200 a day, and the city will rent the new turf fields at a cost of $4 an hour exclusively for local youth non-profit sports organizations.
Local groups earn that designation if at least 60 percent of their members are Morgan Hill residents.
For adult or out-of-towns groups the rates go up dramatically, Mott said.
The concession/restroom building will probably be ready for use before year’s end, and Orchard Valley Soccer will definitely utilize the turf and natural grass fields as much as the schedule permits, Mott said.
The OVYSL will not be able to make the sports complex their home, however, because of the associated costs.
OVYSL teams will continue using the Morgan Hill and Gilroy school fields to practice and play on, but will get some time on the new fields as well.
“The economics of renting natural grass fields (from CYSA-N) at the complex prevent us from full utilization of that venue,” Mott said.
Mott is especially excited about the field lighting that will allow teams to practice “well after dark” during the winter months.
OVYSL President Jack Salvemini is OK with his teams having to “pay to play,” because the complex will bring in teams and organizations from all over the place, he said.
“The remaining fields have been leased to the CYSA for the next five years, and they’ve dedicated the fields to Ambrozino Premier Youth League,” Salvemini said. “So teams as far as Chico and Sacramento, all the way down to L.A. will be playing here.”
The premier league is consisted of some of the best youth players in the country, and is named after Umberto Ambrozino, a Hall of Fame Bay Area soccer legend.
Besides being president of the OVYSL, Salvemini also runs the Olympic Development Program for district two, consisting of more then 26,000 13-16 year-old boys and girls from South San Francisco to Monterey County.
The CYSA-N brings events to the soccer complex more than 42 weekends a year, Mott said.
“We need CYSA there to draw in camps and tournaments and such,” he said. “The CYSA brings in more people than the Taste of Morgan Hill and the Mushroom Mardi Gras combined.”
With the new turf fields slated for completion in October, the city said they would allow the Live Oak High School and Sobrato High School soccer teams to use the fields if their own fields are destroyed in the winter weather.
“If it gets into high school soccer season, and the fields get inundated with rain, the city has tentatively said they would allow them to use them,” Mott said.
Both Mott and Salvemini expressed their excitement for the opening of the new complex.
“It’s gonna be a marvelous jewel of a complex.” Mott said.
“I’m hoping that this will match the Santa Clara Sports complex,” Salvemini said.
