Later in March, Pensacola Youth Soccer hopes to begin practices, then games for an upcoming season that has presented varied challenges.
The Blue Wahoos front office staff has helped toward making it possible.
As part of the team’s ongoing community service outreach, Blue Wahoos employees joined together Feb. 24 to dig, remove and carry away rocks embedded in the grass acreage of Mallory Heights Park.
Before the area could soon be set up and lined for multiple youth soccer fields, clearing away debris was a necessity.
“We could not have a season, had we not done this. It’s that simple,” said Phil Nickinson, board president of Pensacola Youth Soccer, praising the team of Wahoos staff members. “Having everyone from the Wahoos out here in one afternoon was very special.”
The Blue Wahoos have made youth field restoration in the Pensacola area part of their annual schedule. This was the first soccer field project.
“It helps us meet our mission,” said Anna Striano, the Blue Wahoos community relations director and merchandise manager. “If we weren’t out helping, it’s likely (Pensacola Youth Soccer) would not have been able to play soccer.
“Definitely, if these rocks had stayed on these fields, it could not have been used for practice. Somebody would have hurt themselves playing on these fields. Now, they are going to be able to hold practices.”
Since the team’s inaugural season in 2012, the Blue Wahoos have traveled throughout Escambia and Santa Rosa County to youth ballfields. If a request is submitted, the field is checked out for what equipment is needed and whether it is possible to make significant improvements during a day.
Dustin Hannah, the Blue Wahoos head groundskeeper, helps direct the work effort at the field.
“With the coronavirus situation, this year has been a little different, because what organizations are looking for the most is raising funds,” Striano said. “What we can provide is a day where our staff can come out and work together to smooth a field and make light repairs.
“This one (at Mallory Heights) came together quickly. But with everything we were able to do in helping with the recovery in our community from Hurricane Sally in mid-September, it has just flowed together. We have been able to help wherever we can.”
Mallory Heights Park is among 96 parks within the City of Pensacola Parks and Recreation Department. And only a small number of those parks are usable for soccer.
More fields will soon be available when the city opens a $3 million soccer complex at Hitzman-Optimist Park.
“Once Hitzman is done, these fields (at Mallory Heights) can be used for practices and smaller games of six on six soccer,” NIckinson said.
Pensacola Youth Soccer has approximately 750 kids participating in the recreational youth soccer organization for ages 4 through 17.
“And that number of kids is actually the fewest we’ve had since 2015,” Nickinson said. “We did minimal advertising, because we knew we had to cap registration because we don’t have the field space.”
The main benefit of getting the fields ready is just having a season again. When the coronavirus pandemic struck a year ago in March, all youth sports were either discontinued or greatly curtailed.
“We haven’t done anything since last spring,” Nickinson said. “We haven’t used these fields in the past year. We are hoping to have half of our practices out here.”