CALGARY – Calgary’s soccer community is about to get some much needed indoor space.
The Foothills Soccer Club has decided to convert a warehouse into a training centre with three indoor fields.
The warehouse will offer 30,000 square feet of space.
“For the sake of the kids, the whole club and beyond that, the game of soccer in the city I think it’s a massive step forward,” says club technical director Tommy Wheeldon.
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Young players have been training in school gymnasiums which are expensive to rent. However, opening a new facility may mean no difference in the players fees because the warehouse renovation won’t come cheap.
“It’s probably going to take $250,000 to make this thing happen. The turf is coming from field turn from Toronto. It’s actually on a truck right now driving across the country,” says Wheeldon.
The training facility will not be used for indoor games because there will be no boards around the fields, but Foothills Soccer says other clubs and sports can also use the space.
The club is working as fast as it can to transform the warehouse with the help of many volunteers. It’s also hoping to keep costs down by having corporate Calgary pitch in with naming rights to the facility and the three fields.
Its hope the first soccer ball will hit the turf December 17th.
The warehouse is phase one of the club’s ambitious plan; phase two will include the construction of an outdoor facility with two or three full sized soccer pitches.
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