I think it`s quite simple. In the Spring we have to compete with youth soccer as well as youth lacrosse. If you`ve ever had a kid in any youth sports organization in this area, you`ll realize how massive those groups are. SYA for instance, which really only supports the Centreville and Clifton areas boasts of having over 13,000 children in their programs. That`s just one organization. There`s many others, and I`d wager soccer is their biggest sport.
Those same organizations all have volunteers that run them as corporations and they constantly lobby the county for the best resources, and you know what? They pay a lot more than we do. The average soccer team pays around $2000 a season. They also use their money to help fund capital improvement projects for the fields in the county, the same fields we use.
Bottom line is, they`re bigger, more organized, pay more than us and they put more money into field improvements than we do. Besides, we get the nicer fields in the Fall when really the only youth sport that uses them is football.
It`s funny you mention buying our own fields, because that`s exactly what SYA is doing right now. They started a project called Field Of Dreams, and when it`s finished, it`s supposed to include 4 soccer fields, which would go a long way towards freeing up fields for others, such as us, in the Spring. Go make a donation if you want it to move along faster. |