SOCCER A special section of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
TUPELO SPORTSPLEX
25 years and counting
BASEBALL
WESTON REED PLAZA
PAGE 2 ■ FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010
SPORTSPLEX – 25 YEARS
SECTION E
THE ROAD THERE: FROM DREAM TO REALITY ■ Those who helped build it remember the community’s hard effort with fondness.
A timeline 1985 Sportsplex planning begins
BY EMILY LE COZ
T
Daily Journal
UPELO – It was 25 years ago. Ronald Reagan had the White House. Wham! topped the music charts. Postage stamps cost 20 cents. And a little-known concept called the Tupelo Sportsplex was about to become reality. It has been a quarter century since a group of residents, led by Jim Ballard, rallied to build a state-of-theart sportsplex in today’s Ballard Park. When complete, it would boast a multi-field facility with parking, rest rooms and a concession stand. It would be large enough and nice enough to host state tournaments. And, most importantly, it would give Tupelo’s growing number of sports families a central location to watch children compete. Planning started in 1985. Ground was broken in 1986. And the first tournament was played in 1987. Since then, the Tupelo Sportsplex has hosted thousands of children, hundreds of teams and countless activities. It also has grown with more fields, more lights and more amenities. And now, to commemorate the facility’s silver anniversary, the city has unveiled a $250,000 renovation
1986 Groundbreaking 1987 First major fundraiser; first tournament; official dedication 1988 Concession stand opened; lights added to three fields 1993 Lights added to three more fields and parking lot 1997 Pavilion added COURTESY
Some of the original organizers of the Tupelo Sportsplex gather to discuss plans for the dairy farm land. project to enlarge the concession stand, add more bathrooms, construct a Wall of Champions and build the Weston Reed Memorial Plaza. A dedication ceremony for those improvements was held on March 25, and brought a flood of memories. “It just brings tears to my eyes,” said Judy Ballard, whose late husband, Jim, spearheaded the sportsplex effort. “It was absolutely the happiest times in our lives when
our children were playing soccer and having fun,” she said. “It was just a wonderful way for us to bond as a family. When I go back out there now, I’m just amazed that he started all this.” Jim Ballard was president of the Tupelo Soccer Association in the mid-1980s. Although the association had some 50 teams, the city didn’t have many dedicated fields. Some games were held in Skyline, others at the baseball fields in City Park, and some at what was then
Congratulations on 25 Years Sportsplex!
called Westwood Park – now Ballard Park. It was renamed after Tupelo’s former mayor, James Ballard, unrelated to Jim and Judy Ballard. “That was nothing but bean fields and we had one soccer field,” recalled Chip Petersen, who headed the city’s Parks and Recreation Department at the time. “We made three playing fields in the bean fields.” Then Jim Ballard visited the Atlanta suburb of Cony-
Turn to DREAM on Page 4
2000 All the fields lit 2001 Stadium field dedicated to Jim Ballard 2008 Nine-field baseball complex opens; 1-mile cross country track added 2010 Dedication for expansion of concession stand building and construction of Weston Reed Memorial Plaza and Wall of Champions
Congratulations on the 25th Anniversary of the
Sportsplex!
Thank you for your contributions to our community.
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SPORTSPLEX – 25 YEARS
SECTION E
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010 ■ PAGE 3
PARKS AND REC DIRECTOR, AT YOUR SERVICE
often is the Sportsplex Q How used? Sportsplex is used year round for A soccer, baseball and football. We host about 12 weekend tournaments
can people support the Q How Sportsplex? The community as a whole does A a great job in helping fund programs for our youth. We have a lot of
during the year. Recreational games are played on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. On any given night there could be 2,000-3,000 players, parents, and family on Sportsplex.
great sponsors. Each association has various fundraisers throughout the year and parents can help by supporting these efforts. Right now TYSA is hosting a Sportsplex dance to help with improvements to the complex and they have started a brick campaign to help finish out the new plaza.
is your favorite memory of Q What the Sportsplex? I have so many great memories A about Sportsplex, it is hard to pick just one. If I had to pick one it
would be the first time that I ever saw the Sportsplex. Two Tupelo teams were playing for the state championship in Jackson and the game was rained out. The state office decided that they could play the game in Tupelo the next week. I was living in Greenville at the time and I received a phone call one morning and I was informed that I needed to be in Tupelo that afternoon to referee a game. It was a very good game between two great teams. I remember the passion that the players and parents had during the game. I knew from that day that this community was something that I wanted to be a part of.
Q A
Describe what you think the Sportsplex will look 25 years from now. Hopefully over the next 25 years we will finish out the complex with more fields, parking, sidewalks and landscaping.
How does Tupelo’s sportsplex Q compare to those in other cities with whom we compete for games and tournaments?
Q A
Can anybody use the Sportsplex or do you have to be involved in a municipal league of some sort? Sportsplex is open to the public year round for free play but only city leagues can use the complex for organized games and events.
THOMAS WELLS
Don Lewis is the director of Tupelo's Parks and Recreation Department and has been involved with the city's Sportsplex for many years. Lewis recently answered questions about the Sportsplex, which celebrates its 25-year anniversary this year. Tupelo has the largest multisport A complex in the state with 153 acres of land, nine baseball fields, and 15 soccer/football fields. It is maintained at one the highest standards of any other sports complexes.
MAY
1 – Dudie Burger Festival (Oren Dunn City Museum) 4 – Summer registration for day camp, tennis lessons and swim lessons, bowling camp and golf camp 22 – Rob Leake City Pool opens 29 – Veterans Park Splash Pad opens
JUNE
5 – Hershey’s Track and Field Meet 7 – Augustus Pool opens 19 – Juneteenth celebration (Ballard Park)
JULY
3 – All America City Picnic at Ballard Park 10 – 3-on-3 Basketball at Gum Tree Park 12-16 – British Soccer Camp at Sportsplex 26 – Registration for Adult sports 30 – Super Fun Day at Ballard Park
up in the parking lot. There were some strange characters that worked at the circus.
Trustmark Congratulates Tupelo Park & Recreation on the 25th Anniversary of The Sportsplex at Ballard Park.
is it important for Tupelo to Q Why support the Sportsplex? As the sign at the entrance states, A “Sportsplex was built by the Citizens of Tupelo for the benefit of our youth” The city of Tupelo does a great job of providing funding but we need the help of all for our association to continue to grow.
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is the craziest thing that has Q What ever happened at the Sportsplex? We have always tried different A events to raise money. One year we allowed a low-budget circus to set
Summer Activities for Parks & Recreation
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(662) 840-4624
The Sportsplex provides a great place for the Youth Baseball and Soccer programs and has a huge economic impact on the City of Tupelo.
PAGE 4 ■ FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010
SPORTSPLEX – 25 YEARS
Dream prompted Ballard to begin push for facility Continued from Page 2 ers and saw a sprawling sportsplex large enough for several teams to play at once. Soon after, he had a vision. “He actually woke up one morning and said, ‘Judy, I had a dream last night about that soccer complex in Atlanta,’” Judy Ballard said. “And he said, ‘We could do that. We’ve got enough good people in Tupelo. We could have a fundraiser and all the children can play at the same place.’” Thus began a whirlwind process of spaghetti suppers, dances, car washes, solicitations, and check ceremonies that eventually drew in every sector of the community. “Oh, I remember those spaghetti suppers and the dances,” laughed Kara Hobson, who played youth soccer at the time. “I haven’t thought about that in years.” But it took awhile to convince people it had potential. “I remember the first meeting,” said Jimmy Pappas, a Tupelo businessman instrumental in the process. “The room was full of people, and there were numbers flying around about how much it would cost to build it. After that, most people disappeared. They didn’t think it could be done. But a few of us hung in there.” The sportsplex, they estimated, would cost $400,000, which in today’s dollars is more than $805,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the facility also would generate tax revenue – about $34,000 annually – by attracting out-of-town teams to com-
nine-field baseball complex and 1-mile cross country track. The expanded concessions stand and bathroom facilities also are part of that effort. But the improvements shouldn’t stop there, Petersen said. “We need to keep improving the facility because every city is copying Tupelo,” he said. “We need to make it bigger and better.” It’s unlikely, though, that supporters can ever recreate the fundraising blitz of the mid-1980s. Many involved in the first effort said Tupelo has changed over the years. People aren’t as involved as they used C. TODD SHERMAN to be. Itawamba’s Anna Merritt Roberts kicks the ball across the field ahead of Back then, said Parks and Rec Office Manager Lisa RusEast Mississippi’s Parris Montague during play at the Sportsplex in Tupelo. sell, “they were all so excited about it. It was something fun, pete in large tournaments. It and talked him into donating also would be a jewel for the some of the land. He was very, the dances and spaghetti suppers. It was like a PTO, and city, supporters said. very supportive of donating they had a big time raising Slowly, people began to bethe land.” money. Nowadays it seems lieve in the dream. The city of The facility opened in 1987 Tupelo allocated $45,000 to the and immediately served more you have to almost drag people to volunteer.” project in 1986. The Convention than 1,700 youth in the Parks People don’t need dragging and Visitors Bureau gave and Recreation programs, as to enjoy the Sportsplex, $70,000 the same year. And well as those in the Special though. Every week, thouCook Coggin Engineers donatOlympics. Among the first to ed thousands of dollars worth play there was Adam Morgan. sands of families gather to coach and play and cheer of engineering and design work. “At the time it was kind of their loved ones. Fundraisers and corporate groundbreaking,” Morgan “It’s the city’s biggest comdonations provided the rest of said. “There were eight to 10 munity gathering, and it hapthe money. They were organized soccer fields all at once. That and solicited by numerous was when soccer really started pens two or three times a week,” said current Parks and helpers, including Pappas and to catch on. We were well residents Jim Bain, Harold Hud- ahead of the rest of the state in Rec Director Don Lewis. “It’s son, Ellen Short and Paul Eason. building something like that.” like a reunion of thousands of people – parents and grandBut most credit Jim Ballard But since then, other comwith the yeoman’s share of the munities have followed Tupe- parents and children and work. lo’s lead. Sprawling facilities friends, all there together.” “He talked to everyone he have emerged in New Albany, And Lewis said, with any could imagine, and they prob- Corinth, Oxford and elseluck, the tradition will continably just got tired of saying no where – some surpassing what ue another 25 years. Or longer. and finally just gave in,” Judy Tupelo has done. Ballard recalled. “And then he The city has responded with Contact Emily Le Coz at (662) 678-1588 talked to Mr. L.D. Hancock major additions like the recent or emily.lecoz@djournal.com.
SECTION E
SPORTSPLEX FACTS What is the favorite concession stand food at Sportsplex?
POPCORN
How many soccer fields does Sportsplex have?
15
What age can a child start playing soccer?
4
How many players and parents are at Sportsplex on a game night?
2,700
What year saw the first state title?
1985
What was Sportsplex before it became our soccer fields?
DAIRY FARM
What famous Confederate general slept at Sportsplex?
NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST What was the scariest event held at Sportsplex?
HAUNTED TRAIL
How long is the longest trail at Sportsplex?
2.75 MILES
What Tupelo councilman has a soccer field named after him?
PAUL EASON
What Tupelo resident helped develop Sportsplex?
JIM BALLARD
How many hamburgers/hot dogs are sold in one night?
120/70
Congratulations on your 25th Anniversary! Congratulates Tupelo Park Recreation on the 25th Anniversary of the Sportsplex at Ballard Park. Thank you for your contributions to our community!
Member of
Family
Serving Northeast Mississippi for 29 Years 367 NORTH GLOSTER STREET, TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI
662-844-4530
Pharmacy Dept. e-mail: jimbain@usadrug.com FAX: 662-844-4537 Mon. - Fri. 9:00 - 6:00 • Sat. 9:00 - 1:00 We have tickets for the Sportsplex Dance & Silent Auction Saturday, April 10 • 7:30 pm - Midnight at the Summit Center in Tupelo Very Casual Dress ~ Cash Bar ~ Music by the Paul Rainey Band
$20 per person
SPORTSPLEX – 25 YEARS
PAGE 6 ■ FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010
FROM START ...
COURTESY PHOTOS
Work began on the Sportsplex 25 years ago, and ground was broken in 1986 on this land filled with bean fields and a dairy farm.
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SPORTSPLEX – 25 YEARS
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010 ■ PAGE 7
...TO FINISH COURTESY PHOTOS
Hard planning and work paid off with the first tournament being held in 1987. Those first endeavors have paved the way for expansions and thousands of visitors a year.
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BUILT BY THE CITIZENS OF TUPELO FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR YOUTH
Remembering the Past and Building for the Future Celebrating 25 years of Sportsplex
Sportsplex Dance & Silent Auction Date: Saturday April 10th, 2010 Time: 7:30pm-12:00am Summit Center on North Gloster Tickets: $20.00 per person
Cash Bar Available • Music by the Paul Rainey Band Dress: Very Casual You can purchase your tickets at Jim Bain’s Pharmacy or Tupelo Parks and Recreation Administrative Office The Sportsplex is host to over 1,000 players and 100,000 spectators per year. It is also home to the Tupelo Futbol Club Be a part of Celebrating 25 years of Sportsplex with your donation and leave your name in Sportplex History. Leave Your
• 4x8 pavers - $100 each (lower plaza) • 8x8 pavers - $200 each (upper plaza) Tupelo Parks & Recreation 655 Rutherford Rd. • Tupelo, MS 38801 • (662) 841-6440 visit our website at www.tupeloparkrec.com
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