USA South Sponsors

Thursday, July 2, 2009   By JOHNNY BUCK - Bulletin Sports Editor

Billy Russo wants people to see the new Smith River Sports Complex for themselves.

Once they do so, Russo is confident they will come back.  

“We’ll let this place market itself,” said Russo, director of operations at the facility, which opened to the public Wednesday. “We do our job by keeping people here. If we do our job hospitality-wise, they’ll come back and tell their friends.”  

The Harvest Foundation paid $8.5 million to construct the complex, and the Southern Virginia Recreation Facilities Authority (SVRFA) officially took over ownership duties Wednesday.  

Dennis Toney, executive director of SVRFA, said Wednesday’s opening was “very satisfying.  

“We’re very excited about having it open, and we’re looking forward to growing as we move forward,” he said.  

The complex features five multi-use athletic fields. Two of those are state-of-the-art, FieldTurf synthetic fields measuring 225 feet in width and 360 feet in length, which are expected to host their first adult soccer pickup games tonight.  

The FieldTurf surface has a lifespan of 7-10 years, according to Russo, and should be able to drain as many as 12 inches or water per hour once the surface is “broken in.” Those fields also are equipped with wireless electronic scoreboards and permanent bleachers with a seating capacity of 500-600.  

The complex also has three Bermuda grass fields of the same dimensions. Those fields are not yet ready for play, as the root systems need time to mature.  

All five fields have lighting systems to allow night-time use.  

Much like Russo, Toney hoped the complex would gain exposure in its first year by word of mouth from soccer enthusiasts.  

“My vision would be that we sort of set a goal of trying to run 10 to 12 events in the first year, giving it ample time to get established and to let the grass grow in,” he said. “Especially in the first year, if we can get 10-12 events, we’d be very happy with that.”  

The complex has scheduled at least three major events, including the men’s and women’s soccer tournaments for the USA South Conference in 2009 and 2010, an NCAA Division III athletic conference and two Piedmont Youth Soccer League (PYSL) invitational tournaments on Nov. 14-15 and March 13-14.

The PYSL also has contracted with the complex to play all of its league games at the facility beginning this fall, though PYSL teams will not practice there this year.  

Toney said the partnership with PYSL was a logical move that should benefit both parties.  

“It’s very important to have them on board, and the two tournaments they’re starting with are great ways to get started,” he said.  

Complex officials are negotiating several other sporting events that could take place on site, including a Carlisle field hockey and boys soccer game, several youth soccer camps, youth flag football, ultimate Frisbee events, a college soccer showcase event, a Hispanic adult soccer league and a 3-on-3 soccer tournament.  

Toney said the PYSL tournaments would initially target travel soccer teams within a 60-mile radius of the complex.  

“That’s very important as far as getting our name out there and getting some recognition that we are a quality facility,” he said. “I think all of those (tournaments) start relatively small. If they could get 40 or 50 teams and grow from there,that would give us a foundation to work from.”  

The complex will charge admission for some events, and it will sell concession items, but Russo said the biggest objective at this point was getting people to the complex.  

“The big things people have to realize about these events is that — yeah, our complex is going to make some concession revenue and notoriety — but really it’s the economic impact on our community: People staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, people seeing the community. That’s going to be the main benefit, I think,” he said.  

The facility will be open from 7 a.m. to dusk seven days per week until the fall, when Russo said the facility probably will close its gates around 5 p.m.  

The complex also has walking trails and a canoe access point to the Smith River, and a full-size practice field is under construction.  Toney didn’t have a cost estimate for the complex’s first-year budget, saying it may take “three to five months” to develop a firm estimate.  

The SVRFA board authorized a two-month operating budget of $135,354 on June 18.

Looking ahead, Toney said he’d like the complex to expand beyond soccer, creating more opportunities for the facility to be used.  

“In five years, I’d like to see us hosting a diversity of events. Soccer, I think, is the foundation we’re building it on, but I’d hope in five years that we’d have events like flag football ... regional lacrosse events, field hockey events, ultimate Frisbee,” he said, “any of those kind of things that say we’re more than a soccer (complex), and that we can do other events and do them well.”