This past Saturday Oct 4, 2014 saw hundreds of kids and adults at the Max Turyk Centre site to participate in the official opening of the new soccer fields. Cam Mertz, Director of Leisure Services for the City of Fernie and his staff planned a day ofl events beginning with a Whitecaps demo, a grassroots clinic by BC Soccer for ages 7 to 10, a free mini tournament for those 11 and up, adult soccer, crafts and obstacle course, bouncy house, opportunity to clock your kick with the RCMP radar gun, adult soccer, a barbecue, ribbon cutting and prize draws.

It was a wonderful site to see so many children and parents gathered around to witness the opening of this amazing new space.

As many commented, this large area will change soccer in Fernie as it will allow for adult and children’s tournaments. Best yet for families with multiple children playing soccer they now can be in one area watching their children play this great sport.

The field features one large regulation field with smaller fields next to it allowing for adult and kids soccer and for multiple games to be played simultaneously.

A project of this magnitude costing just over $800,000 doesn’t materialize without the effort of many individuals and organizations so here is some background information.

In 2011 the City initiated development of the soccer fields due to user groups expressing a need for additional playing space to accommodate growing memberships as Fernie Minor soccer had over 400 registered participants.

Over the past three years successful many soccer teams have emerged and further supported a need for new sport field facilities.

Historically field users in Fernie accessed school fields under a formal joint use agreement between the City of Fernie and School District #5, a limiting factor for this arrangement was meeting the expectations of the field user groups in respect to operational concerns such as maintenance schedules, provision of amenities and specialized needs such as field line markings; if it wasn’t a school priority or in support of a school function it was not organized and expedited.

In 2011the City of Fernie funded the development of a new sport fields with an initial investment of $188,000.00 (the City increased their contribution by $156,282.00 to ensure appropriate funding levels for the project in October 2012) and set forth a mandate to work with the community to bring a new facility online. The original plan was to renovate the existing field located at Max Turyk Community Centre, the former Elementary school purchased from the School District 5.

After consultation with the community user groups it was determined that a redevelopment of the Max Turyk Fields rather than a renovation was more appropriate as it would increase capacity to accommodate the growing memberships of sport field user groups.

In the fall of 2011 the Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development introduced the Community Recreation Program that provided funding to communities for families to have greater access to recreational infrastructure so they could enjoy the benefits of increased physical activity and community involvement.

The City of Fernie submitted a grant application in December 2011 to support the development of the new fields.

In April of 2012 the City of Fernie was notified of a successful application; funding the project with $350,937.00.

In October of 2012 Teck Coal provided an additional $100,000.00 donation to the City recognizing the importance of the project to the community of Fernie and the surrounding area.

With an increased budget of $607,219.00 the City of Fernie now had over three quarters of a million dollars to invest in the project.

Landscape architects Durant Kruek were hired in December tasked with conceptualizing the needs of the community into a state of art sport field facility.

It was determined early on in the project that a sand based sport field would be an appropriate design consideration for the climate and use in Fernie.

In early 2013 plans were released prescribing the development of an 18,000 square meter sand based sport fields.

The project was awarded to Currier Contracting of Cranbrook, B.C. and work began July 2013 upon completion of the minor soccer season. Construction continued throughout the summer and into the fall. As snow fell indicating the end of 2013 construction season it was exciting to see a green hue representing the emerging turf seedlings on the newly constructed fields.

Over the 2014 spring and summer seasons the field turf continued to establish itself. The project was officially declared complete in September.

Fernie Minor soccer purchased soccer nets for the fields after a significant fundraising effort that resulted in $20,000.00 invested by the community minor sport organization with contributions by the RDEK Area A, and the IGS group.

The success of this project is an example of the community identifying a need and the local government responding in a financially cautious manner seeking partnerships with the Province, Private Sectors and the local community.

On behalf of Council I want to formally Thank the Province of BC, Teck, Fernie Minor Soccer and the City of Fernie for their contribution towards this project and also thanks goes to Mr. Nic Milligan, Manager of Community and Governmental Affairs at Teck Coal, Fernie Youth Soccer Assoc. president Susan Rohn, Mr. Scott Dressler, all soccer parents and to celebration sponsors Extra Foods, Tim Horton, McDonald’s, Teck Coal, Overwaitea Foods and George Wilson from Wilson’s Drill and Blast Service for that amazing rock that hosts the plaques. Thanks also to everyone that participated on Saturday to make the day such a wonderful community event.

Last but not least thank you Nicole and a special thank you to Cam Mertz for his vision and dedication to making this amazing new field a reality while still staying within budget.