Youth league doubles enrollment after new field opens
A city partnership turned an empty lot into six regulation fields in one summer.
Two years ago, the lot on Willow Street was an unused industrial site the city had been trying to offload since 2015. Today it's six regulation youth soccer fields, and the reason Long Beach's largest youth league just posted its biggest enrollment jump in a decade.
The $3.8 million project was funded through a mix of city bond money and a private donation from a former pro player who grew up two blocks away. Enrollment in the league has gone from 340 kids to just over 700 since the fields opened last spring.
“We had three teams on a waitlist last year because there just wasn't anywhere to practice,” the league's director said. “Now we've got room to grow into.”
The city says it's evaluating two more sites for similar projects, though nothing has been finalized.