Charles E. Bailey Sportplex

Fun for kids and adults

STORY BY BRITTANY SMITH & PHOTO BY KENNETH BOONE

Surrounded by 212 lush acres of Alexander City’s most beautiful and natural landscape, the Alexander City Sportplex offers everything from an archery range to a horse-riding arena.

Families flock to the sportplex on weeknights and weekends to watch their kids, nieces and nephews play ball. Whether it be softball, baseball, football, soccer or basketball, there is a field or court for it all. Adults can even participate in athletics at the sportplex as there are adult leagues for kickball, flag football, softball and basketball.

For those who are less athletically inclined, the sportplex has many lovely areas to sit back and let the kids enjoy one of the two playgrounds on the grounds, share a nice picnic either in the open air or under one of the many pavilions or visit the dog park and allow the little fur babies to run and play with their friends.

The most recent upgrade to the sportplex came last summer when the city added the Splashplex, which quickly became a favorite place to play for both locals and visitors. The splash pad includes fountains and bucket drops for kids as well as a shaded pavilion for parents, and the best part, it is entirely free to use, as are most of the facilities at the sportplex; however, patrons can also rent the pavilion for events for just $25.

The park is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and is run by the parks and recreation department.

The park’s other amenities include the archery range and horse-riding arena, both of which require scheduled use. The archery range can be booked for use by contacting Alexander City Archery Club president Chad Mann at 256-794-5541. For the use of the horseriding arena, contact Alexander City Horse Riding Club president Jimmy Avery at 256-234-2925.

There is also a disc golf course that features nine holes and an outdoor fitness circuit set up by the Leadership Lake Martin Class of 2008.

The sportplex is also home to the Martin-Savarese Stadium, where the Benjamin Russell High School football and soccer teams host home games.

In addition, the Wildcat softball and baseball teams play in the sportplex. Because of the vast nature of the softball and baseball complexes, the sportplex typically hosts multiple regional and state tournaments throughout the year and many travel ball tournaments.

“Every weekend during the summer is usually booked with a travel ball tournament,” Alexander City Parks and Recreation Department Director Sonny Wilson said. “Sometimes they are one-day tournaments, and other times they are two- or three-day tournaments. And sometimes we even have horse shows at the same time we have tournaments. So there are always people coming in and out of our facilities, and we are here to make sure they have what they need.”

The sportplex boasts four softball fields, one high school baseball field and four smaller baseball fields.

Basketball is also an option at the sportplex. The Eva Fuller Community Center is home to a full-size basketball gym, where youth leagues and adult games are played. The gym is open to the public for anyone who wants to participate in open shooting.

“We take pride in our parks and facilities. We hope that you and your family will take advantage of everything they have to offer,” Wilson said.