King United Soccer Club breaks ground for new field at church

October 1, 2013 · 0 Comments

Ivan Rapa, Tony Arone, Tony Cipressi, Dion Bowman, Sr. Pastor Mark Nowell, Stefani Konidis, King Mayor Steve Pellegrini, Councillors Steve Mortelliti, Debbie Schaefer and Chris Fasciano.

By Jeff Doner

Representatives from the King United Soccer Club were eager to break the ground on a new 9 v 9 soccer field at King Bible Church last week. They were joined by members of council and Mayor Steve Pellegrini for the ceremony.
Stefani Konidis, president of King United Soccer Club, said the new field is badly needed for their growing membership.
“We worked closely with the town to see where these options could open up,” Konidis said. “There’s a demand and a need for this size field within the township and one preferably that’s accessible to our league that we can book on our own. We won’t have to book through another channel; this is a township field.
“King Bible Church, we went through this about seven years ago with them, when this field was initially built, but it needs to be brought up to a higher standard now for drainage and the way it is laid out.”
Konidis said a 9 v 9 field is another important part of the Ontario Soccer Association’s long-term player development plan for intermediate players. Prior to this field, the club’s only option for a 9 v 9 field was at the Country Day School dome.
“It’s great that this exists and even better that as a club and a board have the money to put towards it, because it’s about $38,000 worth of work that has to go into it,” Konidis estimated. “Our field development strategy committee, we went back and looked at all the other options and this one became a prominent option for us and the fact that we can do it this year is a big plus, so that it can be used next year.”
Tony Arone, director of public relations and communications for the King United Soccer Club, said the field is a big investment for the club, but will become a great asset going forward.
“We don’t have access to fields and going this route, we’ll definitely have the advantage, because we can schedule our own games,” he said. “This is going to feel like our home 9 v 9 regulation field, which we’ve never had before. It’s very important.”
Arone added there is a lot of work to be done, but the field should be ready for next season’s opening, with the club aiming for a May completion.
“It may not look like a lot right now, but there’s a lot of work to be done. It’ll be upgraded, it’s a nice spot and we’re very happy to have access to it. We’re excited to get going with it and the demand is growing and we have to keep growing with it.”