Calgary is home to Western Canada’s first full-sized, indoor soccer field following Saturday’s unveiling of the Foothills Fieldhouse.
The facility, which will house the Calgary Foothills Soccer Club, offers more than 7,400 square metres of turf (80,000 sq. ft.) including the city’s only FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) approved indoor pitch. In addition to the playing fields, the complex features a large gymnasium, an exercise room, offices and teaching facilities.
“This is a huge jump,” said Mike Mikuska, president of the Calgary Foothills Youth Club. “We’ve been building some stepping stones for soccer for the last number of years, Foothills has been around since 1972.”
The fieldhouse is located on Exploration Avenue Southeast, in the Shepard Industrial Area near the intersection of Stoney Trail and Glenmore Trail.
Over the last 45 years, the soccer club has grown from its humble beginnings within a leased building in the Foothills Industrial Park where turf was laid to allow children to play futsal in cleats.
According to Mikuska, the state-of-the-art, privately funded fieldhouse is the result of ‘four years of passion and purpose to take soccer to another level in Calgary’.
“There is the recreational side of it which is extremely important and there is also a competitive side of it so to provide a home for both of those venues to come together is what we're trying to achieve.”
The fieldhouse will serve the club’s grassroots, academy and professional players and there are plans to host the Calgary Women’s Soccer League, ultimate Frisbee leagues and local football teams.
