Community hopes Smith River Sports Complex brings in money

One local community is trying something new to help the economy in Henry County and the surrounding areas.

Footsteps were treading in new places in Henry County at the Smith River Sports Complex. It was the grand opening and people got an eyeful of six full-size sports fields full of soccer players and kids just having fun.

Organizers hope the $9 million complex, funded by the Harvest Foundation, will bring in some cash.

“We have tournaments already scheduled and we have the USA South Soccer Conference in November. We have church picnics booked; we have family reunions booked,” said Robert Davis with Southern Virginia Recreational Facilities.

Morgan Hill put on her soccer gear.
“We finally got a good, nice field just to play soccer, and people come out and watch,” she said.

This complex can be used for other sports like football, lacrosse, and field hockey, but another local sports complex served as a model to get all this underway.

“Salem was a model, but not the model we’re quite working with. Salem’s model, we believe, is everybody comes and uses the facilities for free and people come and spend their money in the hotels and restaurants and shopping centers. We’re not quite there yet. We’ve got to be self-sustaining,” said Davis.

Groups will pay to use the complex but organizers try to make it enjoyable for everybody with concession stands and playgrounds for the kids.

Davis said he hopes it will draw in teams from at least 150 miles away.

Steve Bender is from northern Virginia and is with the Virginia Youth Soccer Association.
   
“Coming back from vacation was just a short detour so I wanted to stop by and join in on this open house for this absolutely fabulous complex,” he said.

To get some perspective on how Salem does with their sports complexes, a spokesman with the Salem Civic Center said the Salem area brings in about 20 million dollars in one year. That includes both indoor and outdoor sports.

As for the Henry County complex, Davis said he wasn’t sure of an estimate on how much money that will generate yet.

The complex is located in Axton and it’s at the intersection of U.S 58 and Irisburg Road (Route 650).