Colleyville soccer fields to get needed makeover

COLLEYVILLE Scrapes, bruises and even head injuries have plagued children who practice at the Pleasant Run Soccer Complex and Park for years.

The biggest problem: getting turf established on fields that are used by thousands of children on more than 100 recreational teams and 21 competitive teams every year. Without a sprinkler system.

"If you can’t throw water on it, you can’t grow grass," said Patrick Dunagan, president of the Colleyville Soccer Association.

This summer, Colleyville will change all that, adding a new irrigation system, re-grading the site and planting new turf seed on the practice fields. The park will close at the end of April and re-open in September, said James Hubbard, Colleyville’s former parks manager.

"We just want to improve the overall playability of the field," Hubbard said.

The CSA has spent the last three years raising money toward this endeavor and will contribute $30,000 toward the city project, Dunagan said.

That included donations by soccer families in addition to the usual registration fees.

The CSA also had special nights at area restaurants Mooyah and RedBrick Pizza, who shared a portion of the proceeds with the group.

Sponsorships with Dick’s Sporting Goods and Jersey Mike’s Subs also contributed $2,000 each.

The Colleyville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board approved up to $70,000 in park funds toward the project at its Jan. 11 meeting.

Hubbard explained that the actual cost of the project will be lower with city staff contributing much of the labor and materials, too.

If any of the individual contracts exceed $50,000, they will go the City Council for consideration.

Dunagan said they will lose a few weeks of practice time at the end of this season and the start of the fall season but the end result—four acres of irrigated turf—will be well worth it. That’s enough for 12 teams at once to practice.

Teams could use other, non-lighted fields when the others are shut down.

"We’ll get by. Those will be the time periods when we have the most light of the season," he said.

Long-term, the CSA wants to raise money for new directional lighting for the Pleasant Run practice fields. That would replace the older lighting that was originally for security purposes.

Dunagan added that they will work with the neighbors to the north on the lighting, too.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Colleyville soccer fields to get needed makeover."