The town of Aromas is getting closer to getting a sports park available for soccer games.
The A.R. Wilson Sports Park, located on Aromas Road and off of Carpenteria, has had a fence that surrounds the property, restrooms and a septic system, all installed and financially supported through monetary gifts and grants.
According to Paul Goodman, president of Aromas Community Center Foundation (ACCF), a 501c3, organization, “things are happening but there are still hoops to jump through.” Those hoops have taken the foundation on a 20-year journey to get where they are now.
According to Goodman, the issues including finding funds to support the upkeep of a sports field, including budgeting for readying the field for games and for continued maintenance.
The financial needs, Goodman said, involves settling a stakeholder’s agreement with Driscoll’s – the strawberry grower whose proposal involves the use of the field for all Pajaro Valley Soccer teams.
“Driscoll’s has red-lined something for us and we’ll be discussing it at our next board meeting,” Goodman said. That meeting, like all meetings, will be held at the field’s storage building on the last Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m.
The meetings are open to the public, and, according to Goodman, they are informal. “You could very well get put on the board if you show up to a few meetings,” he said.
Long-time ACCF board member and former president of the organization, Janet Montgomery, gave a brief historical background of the sports field’s progress.
“A group of us got together in 1997 to buy property for a community center and a Little League park,” she said, noting that Graniterock gave money to ACCF to purchase the property, and the field was named A.R. Wilson after the company’s founder.
“There was a special use permit granted, since the property was in an agriculture area, but through a lengthy process the community center plans fell through, but it was declared OK for a sports field,” Montgomery said. “Actually, the Aromas Grange became a center for the community, and Little League was a thing of the past around the same time. We secured grants from the Harden Foundation, and from the county, city and state sources and from those funds the restrooms and septic system was built.”
“Then,” she added, “we were ready for the fields but were stuck with how to get the money to get the field ready.”
Luis Guerrero recently entered the picture. He is a 10-year employee of Driscoll’s and a coach for, what Montgomery said, is a “very, very competitive soccer team,” Pajaro Valley United O3, since all of the players were born in 2003. “They have played teams in San Jose, Las Vegas, Pleasanton, and San Diego. Four of the girls played in the National Mexican Olympics in Mexico,” the proud coach added.
Montgomery said, “They were looking for a place to play, and Driscoll’s was helping them find land, and through Aromas contacts, they contacted ACCF for access to the unfinished field.”
So while the land is available, and there is a community waiting for something to be done with it, the possibility of it getting utilized is a possibility. Then, if the project is confirmed, more funds will be needed, Goodman related, to turn the sandy field into a soccer sports field, and all that entails, such as a drainage system, making the land flat, and planting grass.
Funds will need to be secured to maintain the property, as well.
“It would be great if someone had a recreational vehicle to set up there, for free, in exchange for securing the property and taking care of the field,” Goodman said.