Ground cleared for Zone Sportsplex

Published 7:00 am Saturday, July 22, 2006

POULSBO — Imagine this: soccer practice in North Kitsap, in November.

That thought, which would, until recently, conjure up immediate images of a very soggy situation, now might bring to one’s mind a season pass to the Zone Sportsplex.

The facility, currently under construction behind the Olympic College Marketplace at Olhava, should be a common ground for multiple sports as well as athletes from NK and beyond, said owner Ted Thetford.

“Right now, patience is probably the toughest part,” Thetford said as construction began last week. “We will be offering leagues for baseball, soccer and possibly lacrosse, but we need to see where the demand is.”

At this time, one demand is being heard loud and clear: the collective cry for more fields in North Kitsap. Sports groups across the NK spectrum, from youth soccer to high school lacrosse basically lose all venues in the area for games and practice due to poor winter field conditions, said Thetford, who is also a coach with the North Kitsap Soccer Club.

In response, teams have taken measures such as making 40-minute round trips to the Olympic Soccer and Sports center in Bremerton and renting the facility for upwards of $50 per hour in order to practice for State Cup soccer matches.

When the $3.5 million Zone Sportsplex opens its doors, North Kitsap soccer, baseball and lacrosse players should all have a local winter training space.

“What (that) means is when the season starts, they won’t be rusty … that’s the big advantage,” said North Kitsap High School lacrosse coach Val Torrens. “I think it will be a big hit.”

The Sportsplex project began three years ago when Thetford’s son was looking for batting cages to hone his swing for big hits on the baseball diamond.

“The only batting cages that we believed were open at the time were in Port Orchard … so my wife drove my son all the way down there only to find that they had been closed for the season,” he said.

After that, Thetford contacted Pinnacle Indoor Sports, a nationwide consulting firm that has counseled more than 20 indoor sports complexes to fruition. Representatives from the firm took care of the community surveying and marketing data for the project, determining that the demand for an indoor complex in North Kitsap would be centered around soccer, baseball/softball and lacrosse.

Once the need for an indoor center was verified, the Zone needed ground to inhabit. After the building’s first proposed location dropped out due to conflicting cost analyses, the Zone Sportsplex landed on Urdahl Road behind Wal-Mart and College Market Place.

“The numbers are there, this year we have five or six kids coming over from Bainbridge Island and I expect that that’s going to grow,” Torrens said.

Thetford said the geographical location of the Sportsplex is ideal due to its being in the near vicinity of State Route 3’s intersection with SR 305.

“A project like this is considered a destination so you don’t have to put it on main street,” Thetford said. “I wanted to stay as close as I could to the intersection of highways 3 and 305 to service the people across the bridge as well.”

Construction at the site began last week with clear-cutting complete. Project contractor Drury Construction crews are waiting for a shipment of steel to begin construction on the actual structure. Thetford noted the estimated date of completion to be in December. For updated information visit www.zonesportsplex.com.

“The people who play, let them know when and where and they will come to play,” Torrens said.