By: Jessica Rush w/PlanoStar
With nearly 11,000 young athletes playing more than 7,300 soccer games annually through Plano Youth Soccer, the need for continuous education of coaches and referees is growing. Chip Kruger of Plano Youth Soccer estimated there is up to 10 percent annual turnover in the number of soccer coaches and referees, and he said training for all skill levels is mandatory.
It’s why Plano Youth Soccer is proposing a multi-purpose building at Russell Creek Park, Independence Parkway and McDermott Road, that would help with training and enhance park maintenance services.
“We need a training conference center adjacent to soccer fields that this can be productively conducted on here,” Kruger said. “There also is a need for a park support center to increase productivity of park maintenance and reduce ingress and egress of park equipment in surrounding neighborhoods.”
The majority of Plano Youth Soccer games are played at Russell Creek, and the addition of public restrooms and concession stands could help serve a currently unmet need for the people who use the eight soccer fields and four cricket grounds adjacent to the building. Kruger said they have plans for an 11,000-square-foot facility that would be built in the northwest section of the park.
Although the facility is a concept at this point, it would be divided between a soccer support center and a park support center. The soccer support center would have a 75-person training conference center, public restrooms, a concession center with a shaded picnic area and an administrative area. The park support center would consist of multiple equipment bays and an administrative area with a locker room and restroom.
A natural earthen embankment would help obstruct the proposed one-story facility from a nearby neighborhood.
Director of Parks and Recreation Amy Fortenberry said the board recommended approval of the facility at their January meeting.
“It would benefit the local leagues, tournaments, camps and clinics, and it also would be a benefit to the park maintenance and the athletic field maintenance at that location,” she told the council last week.
The item was brought before the council because Plano Youth Soccer has recommended the cost of the facility be shared.
“We identified community need and concluded that co-development partnership between the city of Plano and Plano Youth Soccer would be the optimum solution,” Kruger said. “This approach does support the city mission to provide outstanding city services and facilities through a cooperative effort that contributes to the quality of life.”
Park Services Manager Jim Fox said the city would be asked to fund between $200,000 and $320,000, and Plano Youth Soccer would contribute approximately $1.5 million of the cost. The funding is budgeted in the city’s capital improvements program, and the bonds would need to be sold within the next year. Fox also said maintenance and operations costs are estimated to be $25,000 a year, but some of the efficiencies and savings they gain from having the facility on site help to offset some of those costs.
This is not the first time Plano has partnered with Plano Youth Soccer, which has been operating since 1976. In 2000, they worked together to construct public restrooms, a concession stand and picnic area at the south end of the 200-acre park. The first facility cost Plano Youth Soccer just under $440,000 to build, and Kruger said they have the necessary funds for the next facility.
Mayor Phil Dyer told Plano Youth Soccer to proceed with the procurement process and said he appreciated the partnership very much.
The next step is for Plano Youth Soccer to move forward with a community briefing for input, and then the parks and recreation department to release a request for proposal.
