Twins ballpark tax helps fund expansion of youth soccer

In a reflection of demographic change, much of the $2.5 million in recent county sports grants will be used for new or improved soccer fields in increasingly diverse neighborhoods of Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park.

Two of the larger grants, totaling $435,000, will enable Brooklyn Park to convert four baseball fields into soccer fields. Soccer fields also will be added or improved in four Minneapolis parks.

"The demand is really increasing for soccer," said Jon Oyanagi, parks and recreation director for Brooklyn Park. That's largely because 40 percent of the city's population are people of color, many from Africa, Asia or Latin America, where soccer is a major sport, he said.

The Hennepin County youth sports grants are funded with part of the 0.15 percent county-wide sales tax enacted in 2006 to help pay for Target Field, the Minnesota Twins' new ballpark. Under legislation that paved the way for the tax, Hennepin County is allowed to use tax revenue not needed for Target Field bond payments to extend library hours and to improve facilities for youth and amateur sports.

Library hours have been increased, but this is the first year of grants for sports facilities. Another $4 million in grants will be made in 2010, said County Board Chairman Mike Opat, whose district includes Brooklyn Park.

Demand grows

"There is an insatiable demand for soccer fields, and they wear them out," Opat said He added that many new immigrants "don't play baseball, they play soccer."

Minneapolis received nearly $1 million in grants to improve fields in five parks. The money will be used for two new soccer fields in the Phillips neighborhood, to convert a baseball infield to turf for improved soccer play in northeast Minneapolis and to renovate and irrigate other soccer and baseball fields, Sigglekow said.

The improvements, most starting this year, are long overdue. "We are ecstatic," Sigglekow said.

Roger Cottew, president of the Minneapolis United Soccer Club, said he has seen more Hispanic children and girls joining the club, which added six teams for kids ages 12 and under last year. He thinks soccer is getting more popular among all ethnic groups, not only immigrants. His club, which draws mostly from southwest Minneapolis, has gone from 21 to 60 traveling teams for older kids in the past five years.

Brooklyn Park is partnering with the Osseo School District to convert two baseball fields at elementary schools into multipurpose fields to be used primarily for soccer, Oyanagi said.

The two schools, both in Brooklyn Park, are Zanewood, near Zane and 71st avenues, and Edinbrook, near 8700 Zane Av. N.

It's not as if baseball is being sidelined, however. Brooklyn Park has more than 60 baseball fields, more than triple the current number of soccer fields (16), although demand for the diamonds has plateaued, Oyanagi said.

'It's going to be huge'

The city and school district are contributing more than $200,000 toward the new fields, but the projects wouldn't be possible without the county grants, Oyanagi said. "It's going to be huge for soccer playing," he said. He said that work will begin after school ends in June and that the new fields should be ready by the fall of 2011.

The two new fields are sorely needed, said Seyon Nyanwleh, executive director of the A-Mon-Nue Sports and Social Association (ASSA), of Brooklyn Park. ASSA has hosted soccer tournaments in Brooklyn Park since 2007 for Hmong, Liberian, Gambian and other teams.

"It's definitely hard to find enough soccer fields" in the city, Nyanwleh said. His group provides soccer and basketball teams for area youth. The soccer team had about 45 kids, mostly Liberians, this year, he added.