When Richie Burke takes the elite Reston soccer team he coaches to championship matches, he knows his team is at a disadvantage. Unlike many of its competitors, the RFC 86 team cannot practice in the rain or when the field is muddy because it would ruin the Lake Newport soccer fields.
"We need to have the opportunity to train as much as possible," Burke said, sitting on the sidelines as he watched the young men he coaches scrimmage at the field, located next to North Point Village Center. "We need to prepare our boys to compete with the leaders. And to fly the Reston flag."
Now, officials with the Reston Soccer Association, a nonprofit advocacy group, have met with Reston Association’s department of parks and recreation to discuss installing state-of-the-art synthetic turf and overhead lights at the field.
The enhancements would give the 1,625 young soccer players in Reston — and particularly the 350 elite players in the Reston Football Club — an opportunity to play after dark and in all weather conditions without damaging the field. That opportunity would give the Reston teams an extra boost when competing against other top-notch squads, said Brenda Dunn, president of Reston Soccer Association.
"We have some premiere groups in Reston that are competing on a national level," Dunn said. "It’s important to have fields that let them be competitive. We need this yesterday."
Two of the 18 teams that comprise the Reston Football Club are ranked in the nation’s top 25, Dunn said. Many of RFC’s players are recruited to play for Division I colleges and several are considered likely candidates to play professionally.
"These kids are serious about playing soccer," she said.
SIX WEEKS AGO, Dunn and a group of others from Reston Soccer Association met with Larry Butler, RA’s director of parks and recreation, to consider the viability of enhancing the field. Last week, both organizations were still investigating the cost and benefits of the plan.
"What we’ve suggested to Reston Soccer is that we’ll look into this," Butler said.
If approved, Reston Soccer Association would pay for the up-front costs and installation. RA would cover ongoing maintenance costs as it does already.
"We have to look at the cost of maintaining this turf rather than regular grass," Butler said.
Both Reston Soccer Association and RA have already invested in the Lake Newport Field. Five years ago, the soccer organization contributed $25,000 to a $110,000 overall field improvement.
The soccer group, which has an annual budget of more than $125,000, sets aside several thousand dollars each year for major field enhancements, Dunn said.
The proposed artificial turf is soft enough to prevent injuries and has a drainage system that permits all-weather play, Butler said.
"You can play in a downpour on this stuff," he said.
Fairfax County installed similar artificial grass at Lewinsville Park in McLean last year. A field near the Vienna Community Center is also receiving fake turf to lengthen playing time and lessen wear and tear on the field.
THE POTENTIAL controversy over installing lights at the Lake Newport field has Dunn worried, she said. If the organization is going to spend the money to install synthetic turf, the players should be able to use the field as much as possible, she said.
"The field would be much more useful if we had lights," she said. "But we know the homeowners are very protective of their privacy."
Dunn stressed the lights would be closer to the street lights at the nearby North Point Village Center than the bright stadium lights found at football and baseball stadiums.
Butler told the soccer officials it would be "extremely difficult" to get approval for overhead lights.
"We told them that’s a totally different equation," he said.
For Burke, however, the issue is simple: Lights and all-weather turf are necessary tools for grooming the already skilled young players into the top-flight competitors they could become.
"We need this opportunity if we want to be a quality club from top to bottom," he said.