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Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Fields Scheduled To Open Aug. 1
By James Yodice
Journal Staff Writer
The Santa Ana Pueblo is known for a few things. Its stunning vistas, for one. Its casino and nationally recognized golf courses, for another.
But the days of Albuquerque Public Schools trekking its boys and girls soccer teams out there will soon be over.
APS' capital committee recently approved a bid for construction to begin on a four-field complex near Volcano Vista High School, in the Northwest education corridor on the West Side. The cost? About $6 million.
The fields, which will have artificial surfaces, are scheduled to be completed by Aug. 1, APS athletics director Kenny Barreras said.
Which means, for about half of APS' high schools, they have a new home — a more geographically friendly home — starting with the 2009 season.
“There was always an issue about not having enough infrastructure, not enough fields on the West Side,” said Brad Winter, chief operating officer of APS' facilities division. “When we were out there for the groundbreaking (of Volcano Vista), we said, 'Wow, look at what we could add to this land.' ”
APS has previously used the sprawling 22-field complex on the Santa Ana Pueblo, known as the State Farm Insurance Soccer Complex. Last season, APS played approximately 175 varsity and junior varsity games at the site just west of Bernalillo, Barreras said. The number once was higher, but increasingly more high schools are using fields on their campuses.
Rio Grande and Volcano Vista have their own fields, as do Manzano, Highland, Del Norte and Albuquerque High. They would only appear in Bernalillo for road games against other APS programs.
The six schools that stand to benefit most from this new complex in the metro area are Cibola, Valley, West Mesa, Eldorado, Sandia and La Cueva.
The State Farm Insurance Soccer Complex each year hosts the Class 1A/3A, Class 4A and Class 5A state tournaments. The New Mexico Activities Association last November paid out $11,355 to use the complex, or 30 percent of net profits, according to NMAA communications director Robert Zayas. The NMAA also paid a fee of $4,260 to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and $7,400 to handle security.
But APS had also paid a steep price to utilize that facility during the regular season, which runs from late August to the end of October.
Barreras said complex-related costs take about $80,000-$90,000 out of the athletic department budget each season. That includes a fee to use the fields, plus the costs of staffing the complex, paying officials, paying their mileage, and the transportation costs.
Moving to the West Side will save at least $20,000-$25,000 in transportation fees, Barreras estimated. For one trip, APS shells out between $160-$175 for a bus to take varsity and JV squads to Bernalillo, he added.
“Start multiplying that,” Barreras said, “and it adds up in a hurry.”
The new fields will be lighted with a pedestrian spine that runs between them. There will be a common ticket area, lighted parking, restrooms and concessions. The surface itself is being provided by Mondo Sport Surfaces.
“If we're gonna keep the kids from going out to Bernalillo, we had to have artificial turf, because of the usage,” Winter said.
Currently, the only schools in the metro area that play home games on an artificial surface are Highland and Rio Rancho. Using the turf was a better long-term solution than irrigating the property and laying down grass fields, Winter said.
Zayas said the NMAA can't rule out moving state tournament games to the West Side location in a future year.
“We'll wait and see,” Zayas said. “We're looking at what our possibilities might be. However, right now we're looking to stay in Bernalillo.”
Zayas said the NMAA would need to examine the feasibility of such a move; parking would be a central issue, because on an average day at state soccer there are about 2,600 parking tickets sold.
“That's an awful lot of cars,” he said.
Winter said the fields won't only be an asset for the high schools. Youth and adult club teams should be able to take advantage of them as well, he said.
The money for the fields comes from House Bill 33, along with bond money, Winter said.
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