\u201cOpen for use.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the message from Surrey United Soccer Club (SUSC) about their new big, red barn in Cloverdale Athletic Park.<\/p>\n
SUSC welcomed the city to the new state-of-the-art, indoor training facility Sept. 22 for a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Several dignitaries were on hand including then Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke and Vancouver Whitecaps legend Carl Valentine.<\/p>\n
Called \u201cEnvision Financial Sport Centre,\u201d the indoor facility opened to the general public Oct. 1 after about a one-month permitting delay.<\/p>\n
So far, the training centre has opened to rave reviews. Members of SUSC say the demand has been overwhelming.<\/p>\n
Jeff Clarke, club CEO and sporting director, said things have been \u201cvery exciting\u201d so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe delay in opening put a microscope on what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Clarke said. \u201cBut our ability to pivot and open same day is a huge testament to our commitment to the program here and the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted feedback so far had been very positive and exceeded all club expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cMembers are loving it,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely that \u2018awe\u2019 factor. The body language is very positive. As soon as (kids) step in, they\u2019re sprinting into their practice. They\u2019re hanging out with their friends at the end. Parents are happy when their kids are happy. And you see a lot of people leaving the facility happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarke said rental space can cover the entire facility floor, or it can be divided into three separate training areas. He said at the lower ages, the facility can support 60-70 athletes and at the older ages about 40-45 athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo a lot of people at once,\u201d he noted. \u201cIt\u2019s meant for training opportunities and it provides a different experience and a different training curriculum\u2014some small-sided technical development. So, when you get on the small field, it adds to the overall experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ali Wilkinson, SUSC president, said facility space is still available to rent out. She said they get three to four requests a day to rent the turf.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey vary from, \u2018I want every Wednesday till next year\u2019 to \u2018My buddies want to drop in and play extreme frisbee\u2019. So, we\u2019ve only got a few spots left for this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said right now they\u2019re telling people who are interested in primetime spots, most of which are all fully booked, to check back after Christmas when times for 2027 will open up for booking.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween soccer, baseball, lacrosse, flag football, birthday parties, other types of soccer training and academies, the demand is crazy,\u201d Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a booking form on the site that can be filled in,\u201d she added. \u201cInfo on the entire set up: how big the fields are\u2014one, two, or three\u2014what\u2019s available to them, the cost, everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarke plans to link up with some community groups in the interests of reaching out to a wider swathe of residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking at hosting Friday lawn bowling, and things, and other corporate events during the daytime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarke noted weekdays during the day are still very much open at the moment. He said they even had a film crew in scouting the location for a possible commercial. The weekday daytime offers a different branch for their programming and operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s supposed to be a multi-purpose facility, so it\u2019s not just a soccer facility,\u201d he added. \u201cSo we\u2019re very much embracing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarke said Surrey United is still figuring out how to meet to the demand and make the operations run smoothly. He said he still can\u2019t believe they opened the training centre, adding it was an \u201cunderstatement\u201d to say it\u2019s taken the whole community to help get SUSC to this point.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s important to us that they get access, that they get enjoyment, that they get experience in here,\u201d Clarke added. \u201cSo, we\u2019re trying to make that happen as soon as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilkinson said the facility will be great for the city overall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more kids we can get out and to try sports, or try a sport in a facility like this, at a younger age, the more likely it is to normalize their experience, and help them choose to continue on with sports as they get older.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyone interested in booking the Cloverdale Sport Centre can visit envisionfinancialsportcentre.com<\/a>. A link can also be found on the SUSC website surreyunitedsoccer.com.<\/a><\/p>\n The Envision Financial Sport Centre is located in Cloverdale Athletic Park at 16968 64th Avenue.<\/p>\n For more info, email info@envisionfinancialsportcentre.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cOpen for use.\u201d That\u2019s the message from Surrey United Soccer Club (SUSC) about their new big, red barn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":954205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-954204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}