Once-busy Charlotte soccer complex’s future is in doubt due to budget shortfall

The future of a once-thriving recreational soccer complex in Charlotte appears to be in doubt as the group that operates the facility says it is running out of money.

The 11-field Ramblewood Soccer Complex in south Charlotte, which sits on 93 acres owned by Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, is facing another budget shortfall this year, according to Frank Jonas, general manager of the non-profit organization that operates and maintains the complex.

Jonas said Ramblewood has an annual budget of $225,000, but has been coming up short by about $50,000 annually for the past several years. The organization doesn’t pay rent to the county for using the fields which, according to Jonas, have been used by 3.3 million players and spectators since the complex opened in 1993.

“We’ve had a continuing problem,” Jonas said. “We used to be totally booked on weekends, but a number of things have changed and that’s not the case any more. It’s just not sustainable for us.”

The recent openings of youth soccer complexes that feature artificial turf (which is less expensive to maintain than natural grass) have shifted business away from Ramblewood. The Charlotte Soccer Academy built its own complex, featuring artificial-turf fields, in Pineville. In 2017, the county had already opened the Metrolina Sportsplex, which has 12 soccer fields and is also used by the CSA. Jonas said Rock Hill’s Manchester Meadows, which features eight soccer fields, has also siphoned play from Ramblewood.

If an unspecified amount of money isn’t raised by June 30, Jonas said the organization will terminate its contract with the county.

It’s unclear what will happen to the facility if the Ramblewood group departs.

“My understanding is (Park and Rec is) going to take over the complex and operate it the same way we did,” Jonas said.

Spokesperson Rossana Seitter told the Observer that Park and Rec had not received a written request from the Ramblewood organization to break the lease (which expires in 2023) and couldn’t comment on the future of the complex.

Ramblewood’s natural-grass fields were once a regular home to weekend youth soccer games and tournaments. The Charlotte Independence pro soccer team built a temporary stadium there and used one of Ramblewood’s fields during the 2015 and ’16 seasons.

Ramblewood’s fields are now used only on Sundays by the adult Charlotte Premier Soccer League, co-ed Metrolina Adult Soccer League and the N.C. International Soccer League. But play in those leagues was suspended this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, creating more financial problems for the complex.

Jonas said the organization has held firm that the fields be used only for soccer games (not practices) and that other sports, such as rugby, ultimate Frisbee and lacrosse, would only occasionally be allowed to use them.

“We could have solved this problem by catering to other sports, but that would have been to the detriment of the grass,” Jonas said. “We were possibly our own worst enemy.”