Editor,
The Indiana Fire Juniors is eagerly awaiting the completion of the proposed Grand Park indoor soccer structure. We believe the facility will not only benefit our member families, but it will bring business to the surrounding area during our regular season games and special events.
The Indiana Fire Juniors has a membership of more than 2,500 youth soccer players who train during the fall, winter and spring seasons. We are currently hosting six showcases and tournaments during the 2014-15 soccer season. The addition of the indoor facility will make the Grand Park complex a year round destination. The indoor facility will allow us to expand our offerings to include at least another seven indoor events in the 2015-16 season. Our regular season games typically bring in teams from around the Midwest and beyond. The elite boys Developmental Academy and girls ECNL leagues host teams from as far as Minnesota and Maryland. Our showcases and tournaments draw just under 600 soccer teams and family members from the United States and Canada. These visitors stay in nearby hotels and eat at nearby restaurants. Without fail, visitors see what the city of Westfield has to offer and proclaim that they will be back.
While the Grand Park outdoor fields provide a state-of-the-art playing field for hosting tournaments and other special events during the fall and spring, our players and coaches are left “out in the cold” during Indiana’s snowy winter months. The proposed indoor facility would provide us with a home for winter training and practices as well as an indoor venue to host special events year round.
Perhaps most importantly, the addition of an indoor facility gives the club another opportunity to give back to a community that has been most generous to us in the past. Soccer parents – especially those with older players – do not typically sit around during evening practices. They like to use this time to catch up on errands or have an impromptu date night with a spouse. During the winter months, when our club practices at an indoor facility in Northwest Indianapolis, those parents spend their money at neighboring restaurants and businesses. We would much prefer to bring that business back home to Westfield. With its growing business base and exceptional, individually owned restaurants, we know the City of Westfield can keep parents and friends engaged in the surrounding community.
The Indiana Fire Juniors believes that Grand Park’s reach extends beyond providing a place to play. It is continuing to filter dollars back into the local community. Perhaps more importantly, it exposes the City of Westfield and all it has to offer, both locally and beyond.
Mark Webber
Indiana Fire Juniors executive director