The California Department of Parks and Recreation Youth Soccer and Development Program has awarded $1 million to the City of Modesto for the proposed Carpenter Road Area Soccer Complex. The complex is located in the Tuolumne River Regional Park, and will serve the current and long term recreational needs of the Bellenita neighborhood in southwest Modesto. The Carpenter Road Area Soccer Complex is a collaborative project that dovetails with the ongoing development of the Stanislaus Youth Soccer League programming offered in the neighborhood . The project aligns with the goals of the Tuolumne River Regional Park Master Plan that calls for this area to include a regional sports complex.
Last year the Stanislaus Youth Soccer League worked with the Tuolumne River Regional Park Joint Powers Authority to build two soccer fields in the Carpenter Road Area. Unfortunately, the two fields are insufficient to accommodate the league’s 1,300 soccer-playing youth requiring that the league find additional places to play. Many of the youth in this neighborhood have limited access to positive safe activities. The Stanislaus Youth Soccer League has been successful in engaging these youth and the City of Modesto’s Parks, Planning and Development Division saw an opportunity to support this success by applying for grant funding which would expand programming opportunities. The grant will provide the resources needed to construct three additional soccer fields and formalized parking to accommodate the need for positive, healthy and safe recreational opportunities for youth in our community. The $1 million grant for Modesto was among $16 million the California Department of Parks and Recreation awarded to 25 projects across the state. No matching funds are required.
Many times public-private partnerships like these provide great opportunities for residents in communities. The partnership that the City of Modesto, Tuolumne River Regional Park Joint Powers Authority and the Stanislaus Youth Soccer League is one good example of the benefit of a mutually beneficial partnership. California State Parks additional support takes the project one step closer to the goal of the Stanislaus Youth Soccer League, that every family would have the benefit of enjoying Saturday soccer.