Portage Soccer Club Practice Facility History 8201 Cox's Drive (Revised 13-Jun-2008)

This page provides an accounting for the development of Practice Fields at Cox's Drive and Zylman Avenue. More information will be added as time allows about the earlier history of these fields.

The PSC Board would like to thank all the families who volunteered at the practice facility during the fall of 2007 to get the fields ready to use in the spring of 2008. Over 270 players and parents worked, and the fields wouldn't be ready without your help! Congratulations to the U-10 girls team for winning the drawing for the $100 gift from Shave Builders Inc. Everyone's efforts are appreciated (see photos below).

Map of Practice Fields superimposed on aerial view from 1989

Instructions for Sept 27 - Oct 8 campaign: In order to get the fields ready to use this spring, volunteer crews are needed to remove rocks, asphalt chunks, and other debris partially buried in the fields, and fill in holes and low spots with dirt. The team manager is asked to make sure their crew brings the following items.

What to bring-

What to do-

Each crew is asked to allocate 1/3 of their time/manpower toward removing rocks etc from field #2, allocate another 1/3 of their time/manpower removing rocks and debris from their assigned field (see table above), and spend the last 1/3 of their time/manpower moving dirt to low spots and smoothing it out. To avoid monotony, might be good to switch jobs every 30 minutes or so so each sub-crew stays fresher. Adults and older youth can man the wheelbarrows and shovels and carry full buckets while younger youth can pick up rocks and rake dirt to smooth out. Look for the Supervisor for any questions.

There are three pairs of orange traffic cones that can be used to mark each crew's progress as they move across their field from one end to the other. Use rakes to help find rocks hiding under grass so we can eliminate all of them. Pry out partially buried rocks and collect in buckets. Portions of field 2 have leftover gravel that can be scooped up and placed in buckets. Field 2 needs a lot of work which is why every team is asked to spend some time working on it. Rocks in buckets can be transferred to a large container at the edge of the parking area at field 2.

Another subcrew with wheelbarrow should move dirt from smaller piles at the edge of the parking area to low spots in the field (some marked with flags). Some low spots are animal holes while there are also valleys that can be filled in although for valleys we'd prefer not to add more than an inch of dirt so some of the grass can grow up through it; the fields will probably be rolled again after we fill in the holes and the deeper valleys.

Reward for job well done-

To encourage participation in this important activity, Shave Builders Inc. has agreed to donate $100 to one PSC team for a team party or whatever they want to do with the money. To be eligible for the drawing to determine the winner, at least 60% of the team's players must work an hour or more at the practice facility. If a team works two dates (with at least 60% of the team at each time), that team gets to put a second slip of paper with their name into the drawing. In addition, to encourage friends, both parents, and siblings to help, the team that has the largest number of total workers (age 5 or older) relative to the number of rostered players will also earn a second slip of paper. The supervisor each day will have a notebook to write down the names of helpers so we can acknowledge those who may help a different day or night than the rest of their team, and each Team Manager (or their designee) is responsible for documenting their workers (and telling singles to look for the supervisor on the night they work) if they'd like to be eligible for one or more chances in the drawing. Thanks to Shave Builders Inc. for their generosity! And Thanks to all PSC players and families who contribute their time on this effort!

Photos of work sessions (click on any image for full resolution view):

 

View of North fields (1, 2, 3)	View east along parking area (Sept 2007)	View of South fields (4, 5, 6)

History of practice facility:

Broadband users: to see a short video of changes in the land the Practice Complex is on between 1950 and 2006, click here (if your browser doesn't play this video, you may need to right click on the link and then select "open"). The video shows an aerial view of the field before Pershing Elementary was built to the north, as Little League fields were added, and as the MISL fields were created. (larger mpg file)

(additional history under construction)

Fall 2009 Practice Facility Field Assignments

Spring 2009 Practice Facility Field Assignments

The PSC Facilities Committee reserves the right to move teams based on turf conditions.
Otherwise, teams are asked to practice on the field they're assigned to even out the wear. If we wear out
the grass in front of the goals, it won't come back unless we take that area out of service for 18 months
For a map of the fields, click here.

Spring 2008 Practice Facility Field Assignments

The PSC Facilities Volunteers reserve the right to move teams based on turf conditions.
Otherwise, teams are asked to practice on the field they're assigned to even out the wear.
For a map of the fields, click here.

Spring 2008 only-
    -to give the new grass on Field 1 more time to grow, the U10 field was relocated to Field 6.
    -to give the new grass on Field 4 more time to grow, the U12 field was relocated to Field 5.

There will be grey buckets on each field to deposit residual rocks that may be present
Parents are asked to spend a few minutes picking up pebbles on their child's field after they drop off and before they pick up. Ask the coach which areas of his/her field are not in use.
There will be other buckets with small quantities of dirt to fill any holes we missed earlier.
    (please use the dirt sparingly to minimize the amount of mud after it rains)

Fall 2008 Practice Facility Field Assignments

After resting this past spring, Fields 1 and 4 are now ready for use as needed, and a new U12 field just east of the parking area (Field 7) is also ready. Discussions among Pfizer adult league teams and between the Pfizer league and the PSC facilities committee will determine whether next spring they rent the fields they used to play on when they were maintained by MISLE. The advantage to PSC of renting fields to the Pfizer league are that the rental money can be used to purchase fertilizer and weed killer to help improve the quality of the turf. And purchase paint to stripe at least three of the fields. The disadvantage is that Thursday evenings would be crowded out there. Remember that Pfizer is generously leasing us this land on very favorable terms.

amazing soccer goal