Bigger, Better, Brighter

Last night I had my first look at the new soccer centre building here in Saskatoon...and it is NICE! The large field in the middle looks amazing and I can't wait to play on it. Now there is actually very little finished in the new building. Only the main field is done and everything else is one big construction site, but here are my thoughts on different aspects of the building.

Lighting: Excellent
When I walked into the building I felt like I was walking onto an outdoor field it was so bright. It could be that everything else was a construction site so the lights shining off the bright green turf made it feel very bright, but overall I loved the lighting. However, there is no lighting outside in the parking lot yet or on the way into the building, so don't hurt yourself walking in the dark.

Outdoor Field: Excellent
This field is LARGE! It is very wide and it really feels like you are playing outdoors. The games I was watching were the youth 8 vs 8 games where they play on just half the field width wise, but it honestly felt like I was watching an outdoor game. The 8 vs 8 game is not going to be like an indoor game at all. It is completely like outdoor with throw ins, corner kicks, offsides, etc. It was great to watch and will really give us a better edge in National competitions because we can play outdoor soccer year round now.

Seating: Average
Right now there is no seating because it is not finished, but I could see where the bleachers were going to go and I wasn't impressed. I feel that it will be very similar to the old soccer centre style seating. It's ok, but when you have some really big games happening there is not near enough room to watch. I hope it turns out ok but I'm not too optimistic.

Lounge: Not Sure
The lounge is not completed yet so it is hard to judge, but one thing I noticed right away was that the lounge is not centralized like it was in the old soccer centre. In the old centre you could watch all the fields from inside the lounge. But this new one has the loung on the far side of the building. So it's great if you want to watch the north end of the large outdoor field, but I think for everything else you will need to leave the lounge if you want to watch.

Parking: Average
It could just be that not all the parking was finished yet, but last night I was there and the parking lot was already basically full. That is trouble because last night there were only 2 games happening at a time and they were not using the 2 old style indoor fields at all. I hope there will be enough parking, but I 'm skeptical. Also, they installed a few dividers to help with the parking, but in my opinion they are way too large and take up some valuable parking space.

Overall Look: Excellent
I think this is going to be one of the nicesest soccer centres in Canada. Having a large outdoor field indoors is amazing and makes the building feel huge. It's going to be amazing to play on.

Be sure to go check it out for yourself very soon. The Tauro FC Men have an exhibition game there on Jan 25 at 9:30pm so be sure to come out and watch (bring a lawn chair as there may not be a lot of seats)