Official opening of 2 new indoor sports fields in South Edmonton – Edmonton

With the official opening of the South Edmonton Soccer Center expansion, there are now two additional indoor fields for community sports soccer, in-line hockey, ball hockey and lacrosse.

The $30.1 million project is a partnership between the City of Edmonton, the Alberta government and the Edmonton Soccer Association.

“We always need more chances, especially in the winter months,” said Adrian Newman, CEO of the Edmonton Soccer Association.

“(With) football, it allows us to do clinics, training times – which were rare (from) before – and of course league games, which are organized by Edmonton Minor Soccer and adults with Edmonton District Soccer.

The expansion, which is attached to the west of the existing soccer center at 6520 Roper Rd., adds two new indoor fields — one grass and one concrete — to Edmonton’s inventory.

“These are standard arena-sized pitches, identical to what we have on the 12 existing pitches we operate in three different buildings,” Newman said.

He said there was still a shortage of decent football time but it will help.

“The league is basically for all prime time…from October to the end of March it will be used seven days a week.”

He said the next project will probably be a country house conversion, probably at the Bill Gilhespy Soccer Complex at Henry Singer Park near 149th Street and 137th Avenue.

Newman explained that the process was more difficult than expected and actually took about a year longer than expected. But, says Newman, the new grounds will make a difference for athletes of all ages and skill levels in the city and beyond.

“It allows many (football) teams to train when they were previously forced to play in a gymnasium, which is not exactly the proper training for league games.

“On the concrete side, ball hockey, Edmonton lacrosse and inline skating have two courts available year-round for the first time,” Newman said.

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Edmonton Minor Soccer Association plans for the field

“We already had discussions last weekend with the president of the Canadian ball hockey organization and they are very enthusiastic about this facility and how suitable it would be to host national championships here.

There has even been talk of hosting an international event at the facility, he said.

“We look forward to hosting provincial championships, national championships and maybe even the odd world championship,” added Newman. “But even the national championships bring people from all over Canada and with the support they all have, that would be a big deal.”

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