Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: April 8, 2025 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 4 <br /> SUBJECT: Soccer.com Center Report <br /> DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks <br /> & Recreation (DEAPR) <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Soccer.com Center Report with: David Stancil, 919-245-2522 <br /> • Soccer.com Center Aerial <br /> • Soccer.com Center Expansion <br /> Aerial <br /> • October 1, 2024 Soccer.com <br /> Center Naming Rights Agreement <br /> Renewal Abstract Package <br /> • Girls and Boys Showcase Events <br /> PowerPoint Presentation <br /> PURPOSE: To receive a status report on the Soccer.com Center, a 34-acre soccer complex <br /> operated by the County in western Orange County." <br /> BACKGROUND: The Soccer.com Center opened in 2009, constucted with the "Soccer <br /> Superfund" monies from the 2001 County Parks and Open Space Bond. <br /> As outlined in the attached report, the complex includes five (5) full-size fields and one (1) practice <br /> field, and is co-located with Gravelly Hill Middle School on West Ten Road. The School and Center <br /> were designed and constructed at the same time in order to optimize infrastructure and parking <br /> opportunities. In 2011, locally-based sports equipment firm, Sports Endeavors, secured naming <br /> rights for the facility, under the company's Soccer.com (previously Eurosport) brand. <br /> The facility has proven to be a desirable location for primarily soccer, but also lacrosse and <br /> ultimate frisbee play. When the facility was built, it was intended to meet both 1) a need for soccer <br /> fields for local recreational soccer programs, and 2) a site for soccer tournaments from across the <br /> region, State and beyond. The Center has been in high demand for both of these functions over <br /> the years, and in 2016 an adjacent 37-acre tract was acquired for expansion of the Center. While <br /> there are future soccer fields planned in the County, Orange County at present has only one (1) <br /> soccer field at Efland Cheeks Park and another at the Central Recreation Center in addition to <br /> those at Soccer.com. <br /> The fields at Soccer.com are heavily used for both weeknight recreational soccer play and <br /> weekend tournament soccer during both the spring and fall seasons. The facility, which features <br /> a highly-manicured natural grass Bermuda playing surface, operates from mid-March into early <br />