Source: KRIS 6 NEWS
By Eran Hami, December 6, 2023

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi’s resident pre-professional soccer team, Corpus Christi FC Sharks, hasn’t had a home since their inception, but that’s all about change.

Near the intersection of Old Brownsville Road and Cliff Maus Drive will be a state-of-the-art Multi-Sport Complex. On Wednesday, Next Sports Company and the City of Corpus Christi broke ground on the $28.3 million complex.

It will sit on a plot of land that Corpus Christi Councilman Roland Barrera said sat vacant for decades.

“Many, many children play sports, but what that does is bring the community together,” said Paulette Guajardo, Corpus Christi Mayor.

Included in the complex will be a 5,000-seat soccer stadium and eight illuminated multi-purpose soccer fields. Along with that, Guajardo announced a standard-length go-kart track would be included and the beginning of the Go-Kart Racing Program.

This complex will be home to Next Sports Athletic Programs, as well Corpus Christi FC and their academy teams.

“This is a first step that I think has been long overdue, so I’m just over the moon about it,” Manuel Iwabuchi said, Head coach of the Sharks.

Iwabuchi said this shows soccer will no longer be in the background of Corpus Christi.

“Having to kind of jump from field to field, to find fields to train on, to play on it’s been a bit stressful,” he said. “But overall, I think this is a step that we’re taking to show the community support in the team and for us it’s obviously amazing in that aspect.”

The team currently plays in the United Soccer League (USL) 2, but hope this complex is a launch point to move up the ranks of the United States soccer system.

“With the motivation this gives us, the motivation from the support from the community and everyone just being on board and behind us, I think we’re more motivated than ever to finally start taking those steps,” Iwabuchi said.

Dr. Kingsley Okonkwo is the brains behind this and owner of Next Sports Company and Corpus Christi FC, the two organizations funding the project. For years he’s envisioned bringing a facility like to Corpus Christi.

Soccer growth was the initial goal, but this complex will be used for so much more.

“This is going to be huge for Corpus Christi,” Brett Oetting said, CEO of Visit corpus Christi. “Not just from a soccer standpoint, but we’ve already been talking with Dr. Kingsley about bringing other types of events here, as well. A facility like this can attract large tournaments, and those tournaments bring lots of family with them, and they spend lost of money in the community.”

Visit Corpus Christi created the Sports Commission about a year and a half ago. One of the first things the commission done was get a survey assessment on what is needed to bring in more sport business. A facility like this, was put on their radar.

“This was his (Dr. Okonkwo) idea, started over five years ago. And, he went through a pandemic, he went through a hurricane and he kept the faith and he kept pushing forward and brought good people in. The community needs people like Dr. Kingsley that have a passion and have a belief to do big, bold things,” Oetting said.

It will provide a big economic impact for the city because the eight youth fields can be used for soccer, baseball, softball and flag football. There will be opportunities to rent the space out for events and maybe bring in concerts.

“We extend an open invitation to local sports clubs and leagues to make the most of these state of the art facilities,” Guajardo said.

The city is contributing $1.85 million from Type B Funds for infrastructure improvements. The city will be reimbursed when the project is done.

The stadium won’t be ready until 2025. However, the youth fields will be ready for play in Fall of 2024. Planning for tournaments is already underway.

Naming rights for the complex are being explored with hopes to have a partner by Fall 2024.

Corpus Christi FC is holding tryoutson December 9 at a different location for their USL 2 team.

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Source: KRIS 6 NEWS