By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
Feb. 23, 2011

“There’s 54 different cultures and languages in the Northeast and the one thing they all have in common is soccer. That’s the international language,” Tammi Tritico of the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department said.

More than 600 youth play soccer regularly at Belvidere Park through the Northeast Soccer League.

However, the current soccer field at Belvidere Park is less than ideal, which is why several area organizations have partnered together to revamp the park and construct a new soccer field.

In June, more than 200 volunteers, including the parks and recreation department and Federal Bureau of Investigation Citizens’ Academy Alumni Association, removed brush and trash from the park, installed benches and bleachers, and planted trees.

“The park itself looks a lot cleaner, but when you talk about the condition of the soccer field, it’s terrible,” Val Lund, co-director of Don Bosco’s after-school program, said.

“It has bumps all over the place, dents, holes and rocks in the goalie areas, which I hate because I’m a goalie,” said sixth grader Diego Alanis, who plays on the Northeast Soccer League. “There’s not much grass on the field. It’s mostly dirt and rocks.”

Seventh grader Lalo Moreno, who also plays soccer, added that the field poses a threat to players by increasing the chance of falls and twisted ankles.

Partners of the soccer project include the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department, Don Bosco, Sporting Kansas City, formerly Kansas City Wizards, FBI Citizens’ Academy Alumni Association, Kansas City Power and Light, A.L. Huber General Contractor and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The soccer complex will include one regulation-size artificial turf field, spectator seating, lighting, a storage shed, picnic tables, grills, a playground, concession stand, drinking fountains, chain link fence along the interstate and highways and eventually, a pedestrian trail, paved roadway and parking lot.

Currently, $254,000 has been raised through several entities, including the FBI Citizens’ Academy Alumni Association, Sporting Kansas City, U.S. Soccer Foundation and Pepsi Refresh Project. Funds are being stored with the Kansas City Soccer Foundation.

Sporting Kansas City has also donated the services of its architect firm, who designed the future complex. A.L. Huber will donate its construction services and Kansas City Power and Light has offered to install the light fixtures free of charge.

Construction of the field alone will cost $1 million, said Erin Lawless of Sporting Kansas City, and the partnered organizations hope to construct the field later this year. Other phases of the project, like the pedestrian trail and paved parking lot, will be completed when funding is available, Lawless said.

Currently, the organizations are seeking additional funds through Kansas City’s Public Improvement Advisory Committee (PIAC), Police Athletic League (PAL), among other grants.

In the near future, the group will set up an account for individuals to donate to the soccer complex fund, Lawless said. Also scheduled for the near future will be public information meetings.

“Sporting Kansas City finds it a very important project to support because soccer is so strong in this area and the need for safe and reliable playing surfaces is a major need,” Lawless said. “We want to support the growth of this community and help increase accessibility to soccer fields in this city overall.”

Creating a quality soccer complex will also allow the Northeast Soccer League to host games and tournaments on its home turf, giving Northeast players a home field advantage, Lund said.

“I think it will give them something to be proud of,” Tritico said. “It will be a great place to say, ‘This is our home field.’”