As home opener nears, Charlotte FC to unveil mini-turf soccer field for all to enjoy
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On the eve of their soccer team’s inaugural home opener at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte FC owners David and Nicole Tepper on Friday will unveil the second of 22 mini-turf “pitches” planned across Charlotte and elsewhere in the Carolinas.
The new pitch outside Camino Health Center in the University area is part of the Major League Soccer club’s Pitches for Progress initiative. The goal is to provide children, teens and adults safe opportunities to play the world’s most popular sport.
About 75 kids are expected to play on the turf at Friday’s grand opening, Charlotte FC officials said in a statement announcing the opening of the mini-pitch.
Camino Health Center is on Stetson Drive, off University City Boulevard and North Tryon Street near the Ikea store.
The 3 p.m. event will include giveaways, music and a food truck, center officials said.
“We want to thank Charlotte FC and Ally for providing the field,” Camino Health Center spokeswoman Paola Garcia told The Charlotte Observer on Thursday. Ally Bank, the team’s lead sponsor, is funding the mini-pitches over several years.
At Camino Health Center, “98% of the people we serve are first-generation Latino immigrants,” Garcia said.
The center is excited to welcome everyone in the general community to play on the turf, “but also the people we serve,” Garcia said.
A colorful mural depicting soccer players adorns an outside wall of the center.
The mural measures 100 feet by 20 feet and also includes images of the flags of Latin American countries, Charlotte artist Sydney Duarte told the Observer. She and Australian artist Treazy Treaz created the mural.
“For Treazy and I, our goal is to infuse forgotten neighborhoods and communities,” Duarte said in an email. “Transforming them into colorful, vibrant spaces. This wall is about creating a safe, loving, fun space for the younger generation to know that they deserve all of the goodness that life has to offer. That anything is possible and there is so much more out there for them.”
“For us, it’s always about the kids, community, and bringing the most unlikely of spaces to life to brighten, heal and awaken others,” she said.
The first field opened in June 2021 at The Apartments at Sailboat Bay on Albemarle Road in east Charlotte. Nothing’s been announced about remaining locations.
Charlotte FC is set to break the MLS attendance record after playing just one match, the Observer reported Thursday. The club has sold 73,500 tickets for its first-ever home contest, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, against the LA Galaxy.