Southern Virginia Recreation Facilities Authority Hosts "Kick-Off" Ceremony Saturday, April 12, 2008's, groundbreaking ceremony for the Smith River Sports Complex was not your typical 'groundbreaking'.

Plenty of local officials and business leaders were there, but they did not push shovels into the ground and scoop up dirt. Instead, 17 youth soccer players and one adult player from local soccer teams, dressed in their uniforms, kicked soccer balls into two portable goals to officially 'kick off' the construction.

“This is all about the kids,” said Dennis Toney, Executive Director of Southern Virginia Recreation Facilities Authority.

And the area's economy, according to local officials.

Local youth soccer players will be able to use the complex, to be built off the U.S. 58 Bypass and Irisburg Road. But the facility is expected to lure people from other areas, including athletes, their families and sports fans. They will boost the local economy by staying in local motels, shopping in local stores and eating in local restaurants, officials have said.

The complex is envisioned as a community resource as well as a tourist attraction, said Bob Davis, President of The Harvest Foundation's Board of Directors. He mentioned, for instance, that the complex will have public meeting space.

The foundation is paying the estimated $8.7 million cost of the complex, which is expected to be finished in June 2009. The complex actually will be owned and operated by the Southern Virginia Recreation Facilities Authority.

Final design plans for the complex show it will have two championship soccer fields, each with lights, an electronic scoreboard and fixed bleachers for about 250 spectators.

It also will have three other full-sized soccer fields with lights, a practice field, a playground, two picnic shelters, walking and nature trails, canoe access on the Smith River nearby, concrete sidewalks and a pavilion with a concession stand, restrooms and office and meeting space, plans show.

Championship fields will have artificial turf while the other fields will have natural turf.

While the complex is geared toward soccer, its fields will be able to be easily converted for sports such as football, field hockey and lacrosse, as well as for activities such as cheerleading and band competitions, plans indicate.

Toney said the authority will market the complex in a way that will give it "maximum exposure".

“This truly will be a first-class facility ... the first of its kind in the area,” Davis said.

“It can be a highly coveted place,” for the community, said Henry County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jim Adams.

Adams said organized sports foster teamwork and build relationships among players and others.

Teamwork not only led to plans for the sports complex, but it also helped establish the New College Institute and the new Virginia Museum of Natural History building, said Martinsville Vice Mayor James Clark.

“If area residents continue working together, there's no telling what we can make become a reality,” he said.

About 75 invited guests were at the ceremony, on a cloudy, warm spring day.

Davis said the "kick-off" ceremony was not open to the public because of mud from recent rain and construction equipment on the grounds.

But "the whole community" will be invited to a ceremony that will be held when construction of the sports complex is completed, he said.

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