New indoor sports facilities are urgently needed with significant growth in both registrations and the city’s population, according to the Calgary Minor Soccer Association.
Registrations have grown 15 per cent over the last three years to 31,319 players across 2,027 teams, and the CMSA said that demand has outpaced available indoor recreation infrastructure in the city.
“We’re at a breaking point for facilities, facility access and our sport,” CMSA executive director Carlo Bruneau told Global News.
With 6,700 indoor games scheduled this year across just three facilities, Bruneau said the organization has had to make several concessions to the demand including less games, splitting indoor fields eight ways, and using gymnasiums across the city for practice time.
It’s prompted the CMSA to launch ‘Fields for Our Future,’ a new campaign aimed at raising awareness to the demand on current facilities and demonstrate the “urgent need for investment” to the city and provincial government, Bruneau said.
“We’re literally at the point that we’re going to hang a ‘no vacancy’ sign out in front of this facility, out in front of our sport and say we’re out of room.”
The demand for field space has become a common theme amongst team managers as well, even competing with other sports for time.
Tony Hlede, the team manager for the Southwest United Elite 12G team, told Global News it’s “next to impossible” to find field time this season.
“It does take away training time from the players and it does take away opportunities to grow through competition with other teams,” he said.
The situation prompted Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal to inquire about constructing a seasonal dome over one of the turf fields at the Genesis Centre to provide some temporary reprieve.
“It’s not as simple as putting in a dome, there’s a lot that goes into it,” Dhaliwal said.
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“I was given a number, which was in my opinion quite high but maybe that’s the cost of doing business these days.”
In a statement to Global News, the City of Calgary said it is aware of the growing demand for indoor and outdoor field space, which it anticipates to continue “with the World Cup coming to Canada in 2026.”
According to the city, three facilities are set to open by 2027 including a new dome at the Calgary Soccer Centre, a new athletic park in Rocky Ridge, and a new fieldhouse complex in Belmont, which is currently in the design phase.
Another athletic complex in Saddle Ridge, which city officials said includes a fieldhouse, is currently in the planning stage with no timelines set for the project.
The fieldhouse at the Foothills Athletic Park that will include indoor turf fields remains partially funded with $109 million in city funds allocated to the project.
“Taken together, these amenities will significantly increase the numbers of fields in Calgary to address the growing demand for additional indoor and outdoor practice and play space,” the city’s statement said.
City council will receive an update in early 2025 on GamePLAN, an investment plan and strategy for recreational facilities moving forward.
“We need to be innovative,” Dhaliwal said. “We need to reinvent our policy. Should we be the only outlet delivering these facilities or is there an opportunity to partner with other groups?”
Alberta’s Tourism and Sport minister Joseph Schow told reporters at the legislature that conversations are ongoing about grant funding and expansion of facilities.
“Everyone needs a place to play,” Schow said. “We’re going to continue to communicate with Calgary minor soccer and other provincial sport organizations as we talk about expansion and opportunities for places to play.”
The Calgary Minor Soccer Association calls the campaign “a pivotal moment” for the city.
“There’s a reason there aren’t ten of these private facilities around the city,” Bruneau said. “Because of the capital cost and the investment that it takes from government to see the vision.”
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
