Futsal courts at lower Concourse Park

Abby Hoover
Managing Editor


Budd Park will soon be home to a futsal court following an agreement with the U.S. Soccer Foundation.


Last week, the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Soccer Foundation for the Budd Park Mini Pitch Project.


“It comes with a capital improvement as well as programming, which is a great thing in this community,” Parks Director Terry Rynard said. “We have two existing tennis courts, and this will pay for one of them to be changed to a futsal court, or mini pitch court.”


The department has been approached by the U.S. Soccer Foundation on multiple occasions, and was finally able to come to an agreement on a location, project and process that the City’s legal department is satisfied with, Rynard said.


Futsal is a soccer-like game played on a hard court, smaller than a soccer field, and mainly indoors. It is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is the goalkeeper.


“The second tennis court, I think, is still under discussion, and that will be a conversation with Indian Mound Neighborhood, to see what the highest, best use of that second court might be,” Rynard said.”


The neighborhood has been successful in advocating for PIAC funding for improvements to Budd Park.


“Slowly but surely we’re working our way through those improvements,” Rynard said. “It’s great to have that much community involvement. That always makes for a better park and a cleaner park, and less activity that is not desired in the community or the park.”