Streator looking to add soccer fields at Oakland Park

The possibility of installing community soccer goals at Oakland Park took center stage during Wednesday night’s Streator Park District board meeting.

Brenda Gardner, a retired La Salle County probation officer and longtime member of the Streator Soccer Board, spoke to park district officials about the need for additional fields in the city.

Gardner, who oversees the city’s youth soccer programs, said the city’s youth program is booming, serving more than 480 children ages 4 to 14 in fall leagues alone.

“With Streator’s soccer program, we’re in our 43rd year, and we have 482 kids in our fall program alone,” Gardner said. “Soccer is huge in this town. It has surpassed baseball, softball and almost every other youth sport in popularity.”

And not just in Streator – numbers show that soccer is booming nationwide, according to Forbes Magazine.

“A new report on the state of soccer fandom in the U.S. by marketing, media and experiences company For Soccer shows that the number of people who have been soccer fans for five years or fewer is up 57% compared to last year, and the number of first-time fans is up 400% year over year."

The current leased fields behind the YMCA are heavily used and costly to maintain, Gardner said, adding that it limits space for local adult and family play.

She outlined a plan for a U10-sized field and a smaller family field at Oakland Park. She emphasized that the project would require minimal changes to the landscape, and the soccer board would maintain the fields, including irrigation, chalking and upkeeping the goals.

An additional benefit of adding soccer fields at Oakland is that they could be used by the community for practice or pickup games when league games aren’t being played.

“Adults still want to play, and families want a place where kids can practice safely,” Gardner said. “Oakland Park offers that opportunity without disturbing the natural surroundings.”

Park board members responded positively, acknowledging the growing popularity of soccer and the potential benefits of providing additional community fields.

Gardner said she hoped that the earliest the fields could be ready for use would be March, allowing time for minor landscaping work and field preparation.

The board officially made a motion that the proposal should move forward to a future Streator City Council meeting for a vote.