Morrisons Cove Memorial Park Adds Soccer Field to Stable of Recreation Venues

Youth soccer is coming to the Cove. While Spring Cove has had a junior and senior high team since around 2008, there were no recreational leagues for area elementary age kids. That is about to change with the completion of the soccer field at Memorial Park in Martinsburg.

Park Manager Chuck Gojmerac said the soccer field is part of the park's strategic plan to bring youth sports venues to the park.

"We have developed a three-year, five-year, ten-year plan on various projects," Gojmerac said. "This goes back a number of years that we have talked about doing an elementary football field, a soccer field, and a baseball field."

Gojmerac said he consulted with Spring Cove soccer coaches Randy Trexler and Shawn Kensinger and came up with a field that can accommodate games for 12U players and under.

"It is going to be for a rec league level," Gojmerac said. "It is not large enough for a junior or senior high soccer game but will be a good size for elementary soccer."

With soccer steadily growing in popularity in the United States, Gojmerac said a youth soccer field and a rec league could help grow the soccer programs at the junior and senior high by giving elementary age kids a local venue to learn the game.

"Just like with baseball and football, if you start them at a younger level and get them used to drills and playing, it helps them at the next level," Gojmerac said. "The sooner you can get someone used to the basics and fundamentals, then as they get older you can increase the level of competition and make them better at the sport."

Paid for with a $10,000 grant from the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), the soccer field is located on the site of the old 4-H horse rink near the basketball courts. Gojmerac said the site was chosen because it was an area that had not been used for some years.

"The horse rink had not been used for six or seven years so we reached out to 4-H and the Cove horse show people, and they agreed that nothing was being used," Gojmerac said. "It's a perfect spot for the field and since it borders the elementary school, I envision it being used for phys-ed or other activities by them."

Because the ground is technically on Blair County Airport property, Gojmerac reached out to airport Manager Tracey Plessinger who gave his blessing to dismantle the horse rink and build the soccer field.

Gojmerac said the work building the soccer field was done by local companies with dirt being hauled in from Kulp farm, GRADEX of Martinsburg doing the excavating, and Gartland Supply seeding the field. Gojmerac said the field will be ready for play next year after the grass takes hold.