The city's decision to purchase 19 acres to expand Walnut Grove Park will help a growing roster of young soccer players and free up city fields for other sports teams, a youth league leader said Tuesday. The purchase nearly doubles the size of the existing park and allows for soccer fields, room for more parking and space for community events. Mike Bowles, the president of the San Marcos AYSO, told the City Council Tuesday that the organization had 1,600 children last year and expects to register 1,800 this year.
League teams play on fields throughout the city and are always looking for free fields.
Mayor Corky Smith said the City Council wouldn't feel right taking money from the organization if it knew that players would have to pay higher dues. Bowles said the organization has been selling candy bars and drafting corporate sponsorships for three years with the goal of helping build new soccer fields in San Marcos. Dues would not go up to cover the organization's cost of pitching in for the fields, he said. The non-profit organization would also try to secure grants and get companies to donate work toward the new fields, Bowles said. More than a dozen AYSO players and board members were at the council meeting.