The number "34" has played an inordinately prominent role in the history of Houston professional sports. Who can forget the 'Tyler Rose", #34 Earl Campbell, the great Oiler running back, rambling down the field scoring touchdowns in the Astrodome? Or # 34 Nolan Ryan, the "Alvin Express", throwing strike after strike from the pitchers mound for the Astros. Or #34 Hakeem Olajuwon, simply known as "Dream", leading the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships.
Well, there is another #34 that may be just as significant to Houston sports as the collective legacy of the troika mentioned above.
Let me explain: on Wednesday, Jan. 30, Houston City Council voted to pass item #34 on the City Council agenda. The item is described as an "Ordinance approving Amateur Sports Complex as a Public Works Project" and means that the amateur soccer community can now look forward to one of the most impressive amateur developments to come along in many, many years. Kudos to Mayor Bill White and the City Council of Houston for realizing the real need that exists in the community for more playing fields and for taking the critical step of allocating over $6 million to purchase 83 acres of property for the complex.
Virtually every active participant in the local soccer community realizes that there is a critical shortage of playing fields. Virtually all youth and adult organizations are affected by the shortage. Of course, there have been warning signs over the last couple of decades as is evident from a mid-1990's Houston Parks and Recreation Dept. study which concluded that the region required 100 additional soccer fields to keep up with the rapid growth in the amateur soccer community.
The proposed complex will be a shot in the arm for the entire soccer community. No longer would the Houston area not be in a position to host larger regional, state and national tournaments. Just like the beautiful new soccer complexes in North Little Rock, Ark., Germantown, Md. and Frisco, Tx. And elsewhere around the country, the Houston facility would become one of the most prestigious venues in the nation. There is a strong economic benefit that the 288/Almeda-Genoa area will derive from the increased activity. In fact, if you look at the number of visitors that the large soccer complexes get every year you will probably be somewhat surprised. In its first year of operation, Pizza Hit Park in Frisco had over 750,000 visitors and that is not counting the folks who were there just to watch a game in the stadium.
Again, kudos to our city officials for taking the first steps to make this complex a reality. Please take the time to thank Mayor White and members of Houston City Council. However, let's not stop here. As was evident in the Parks and Recreation Dept. report in the mid-1990's, we still need a significant number of fields to keep pace with the anticipated growth of the burgeoning soccer community.
