Northern Virginia Daily

Article date: September 08, 2006

Town will officially open Skyline Soccerplex

By: Robert King

For nearly a quarter of a century, the Front Royal Soccer Association hasn’t had a field to call it own.  That will all change on Saturday.

On that day, a grand opening celebration will begin at 8  a.m. for the Skyline Soccerplex.  The festivities start with speeches from local officials and end with youth recreation league games.

The opening of the soccerplex is the culmination of efforts that began seven years ago.

The 30-acre site includes four full- size fields, and plans for three more fields, a concession stand and additional parking are in the works.

The cost of the first four fields at the facility, which was constructed by North Carolina based Ballard Sports, came to more than $700,000.  Funding came from different sources, including county and town contributions and donations from companies.

The Front Royal Soccer Association and United States Soccer Foundation both contributed to the construction.

The soccerplex doesn’t just represent a home for the county’s soccer community but also a symbol of the redevelopment of the Avtex Superfund site.

The land originally housed a large rayon plant and was declared a Superfund site by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in 1986.  The rayon plant closed three years later.

Representatives of the EPA will also be on hand at the grand opening celebration.

In addition to the soccerplex, a business park and conservancy park are also in the works for the Avtex site.

The grand opening marks the first time the Front Royal Soccer Association has had its own fields.

The association offers adult and youth leagues, and has been in operation since 1982.

Officials from the association said that the soccerplex gives the soccer community what many thought was only a dream.

“For 24 years we have been makeshift vagabonds [and played] wherever we could find space and now we have a permanent home,” said Front Royal Soccer Association President Lyle Turybury.

The grand opening will take place at the soccerplex on the west side of Kerfoot Avenue, across from the Academy Manor subdivision.  The event starts at 8 a.m. and light refreshments will be served.