No, it won’t be like Dodgertown.
No, it won’t be like Funkytown.
And no, it won’t change this city’s perception of soccer,
according to this week’s Morgan Hill Times Web poll.
But the Earthquakes are coming to Morgan Hill – not the kind
that allegedly will destroy Anderson Dam – the San Jose Earthquakes
of Major League Soccer.
Are you ready for some f
útbol?
No, it won’t be like Dodgertown.
No, it won’t be like Funkytown.
And no, it won’t change this city’s perception of soccer, according to this week’s Morgan Hill Times Web poll.
But the Earthquakes are coming to Morgan Hill – not the kind that allegedly will destroy Anderson Dam – the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.
Are you ready for some fútbol?
The franchise wants to make the city its epicenter for year-round training and will start doing so once the Morgan Hill City Council in mid-February approves the ‘Quakes’ application for a use permit at 16695 Condit Road – site of the abandoned restaurant formerly known as Golden Oak and across the street from the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center. Because negotiations are ongoing, neither city nor team officials can confirm it will happen.
But it will happen.
After that, the Earthquakes will remodel the restaurant building, turning it into a training facility, and upgrade the 2 1/2-acre property into a first-class practice field, complete with several other facilities for workouts, weight rooms, offices, dining halls and meetings.
Then the all-important question: What’s next for Morgan Hill?
OK, the thought of running into professional athletes at Mushroom Mardi Gras and watching them practice in the same way the Los Angeles Dodgers practiced in Vero Beach, Fla., from 1948-2008 sounds pretty sweet. But we’re not talking about Becks and the Galaxy. We’re talking about Joe and his Ford Galaxy – and that’s not an insult. We’re talking about a blue-collar expansion team that’s coming along. Put it this way: name three players on San Jose’s roster.
As the aforementioned Web poll reminds us, this is soccer, and this is America. Fifty-three percent of voters said they will care more about the Earthquakes if they set up shop in Morgan Hill. Those voters included and were probably limited to futbol fanatics and sports writers. So a makeover to Morgan Hill’s hospitably humble demeanor sounds out of the question.
That’s the truth, plain and simple.
The ramifications for youth soccer, though, are not as clear-cut.
The Earthquakes’ arrival is bound to push more South Valley youths to take up the beautiful game; just as Wayne Gretzky did for hockey in Southern California. But Orchard Valley Youth Soccer League board members are wondering where they will play. As of now, more than 1,400 kids from OVYSL use the Sports Center at least six days a week. That’s not including players from other leagues who play in California Youth Soccer Association-North District II tournaments at the facility. Orchard Valley uses the Sports Center under agreement with CYSA, which signed a lease for it in 1993, according to former OVYSL president Dick Mussallem. That agreement ends in 2009. After that, Orchard Valley will be at the behest of the San Jose Earthquakes.
“I haven’t heard all the details, but I’m hoping they keep it the same; keep it open to the youth and local community,” said OVYSL 2nd vice president Ricardo Martinez, who also coaches the varsity boys soccer team at Sobrato High School.
Sources familiar with the negotiations said the Earthquakes plan to do just that, keeping the Sports Center a community facility that everyone can use. There also is the prospect that the franchise will run youth clinics in Morgan Hill for all of District II, which stretches from San Mateo County to San Luis Obispo. Orchard Valley likes that idea, but is anxious about possible increases in rates for use of the Sports Center. It costs roughly $40 a day for Orchard Valley to use the artificial turf fields.
“Our biggest concern is they don’t know the financial part,” OVYSL president Jack Salvemini said. “What it costs us to rent (the fields), those rates are affordable.
“I’m happy (the Earthquakes) want to do this. I wish them well. I just hope when they negotiate rates they think of us. The Sports Center was built for the residents.”
That was part of the vision Mussallem had when he signed the property lease on behalf of CYSA 16 years ago.
“There was this need in District II because there wasn’t a facility large enough to house tournaments,” he said. “The youth in Morgan Hill deserve the right to use the complex as long as the city funds it.”
That will change in February. How much Morgan Hill changes is up to the San Jose Earthquakes and City Council.
