3/9/2017
Suncor Boys and Girls Club in Commerce City to open multi­sport playing field – The Denver Post
NEWSYOURHUB
Suncor Boys and Girls Club in
Commerce City to open multisport playing 踞eld
Club athletes won’t have to walk to Central Elementary
School for football, baseball practices
Kathryn Scott, YourHub
Estrella Salinas, 10, center, and her sister Melissa, 6, le踞, along with
other kids, use one of the computers inside the STEM Center at the
Suncor Boy’s and Girl’s Club on March 2, 2017 in Commerce City. The
Club is adding a 10,000 square foot multi-sport athletic field to the
former Greyhound Park property.
MEGAN MITCHELL | [email protected] | The Denver Post
March 7, 2017 at 4:58 pm
Mowlid Shongolo is already excited for football season to start this
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/03/07/suncor­boys­and­girls­club­commerce­city­to­open­multi­sport­playing­field/
fall. He
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3/9/2017
Suncor Boys and Girls Club in Commerce City to open multi­sport playing field – The Denver Post
Mowlid Shongolo is already excited for football season to start this fall. He
and his friends practice whenever they can; in the open spaces around
their apartment complex in Commerce City on the weekends, and the
Suncor Boys & Girls Club most days a0er school. “I started playing football and basketball with (the Suncor Boys & Girls
Club) last year,” Mowlid, 11, said. “Whenever we had football practice, we
would walk over to Central (Middle School) and use their 踞eld because we
don’t have one big enough here.”
But not this season. The club at 6201 Holly St. is about to open a $1 million,
multi-sport playing 踞eld with an electronic scoreboard on a 10,000-squarefoot site on the west side of the building. The synthetic turf 踞eld will be
used to expand the programming for all of the club’s in-house sports
leagues like football, soccer, so0ball, volleyball and baseball.
At the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, different locations form teams
and then travel to other club sites to compete.
Kathryn Scott, YourHub
Groups of kids that gather a踞er school at the Suncor Boy’s and Girl’s Club on
March 2, 2017 in Commerce City, Colorado, will look forward to using the new,
10,000-square-foot field soon.
“Being able to host a home baseball game is a top priority for us,” said
Jason Martinez,Suncor club site director. “We’ve always had to travel
around to another town or site to play a game. Hosting games at home is
something special though, and it’s something we’re really looking forward
to.”
Though the Suncor club has only been open at its new, independent
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3/9/2017
Suncor Boys and Girls Club in Commerce City to open multi­sport playing field – The Denver Post
Though the Suncor club has only been open at its new, independent
location on the southeast corner of the former Mile High Greyhound Park
since August 2015, the Commerce City chapter of the Boys & Girls Club has
been around for 10 years. Previously, club goers would meet at Kearney
Middle School.
“While on a school-based site, the club did not offer organized sports so
2016 was the very 踞rst time club members had an opportunity to play
football on an organized sports team,” said Gail Bransteitter, spokeswoman
for Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver.
She said the new Suncor 踞eld will also help the few other clubs in the
metro area that have 踞elds by hosting more all-club activities.
“We only have a few clubs that have sports 踞elds, so this new 踞eld will help
reduce the wear and tear on our other 踞elds,” she said.
The new space is tentatively slated to open at the end of May.
The $4.3 million Suncor club started with a grant of $1 million from its
namesake, Suncor Energy, in 2014.
Over the years, holding programming for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro
Denver inside the small school at 6160 Kearney St. wasn’t cutting it, and in
the two years before building the new club space, enrollment for the
Commerce City chapter rose 30 percent.
“In a decade, we’ve gone from not knowing the Commerce City
community to being part of it,” Martinez said. “Thanks to all of the help
from Commerce City and the school district and anyone who helped us
with the capital campaign to get our own building, we’ve grown from an
average of 120 kids every day to pushing 200 on certain days.”
He said, “Having all this space allows us to do what we want when we want
— we can offer weekly ballet, yoga and cooking classes in our teaching
kitchen. It’s an opportunity to really spread our wings, and the 踞eld just
adds to that.”
The new 踞eld was funded in part with proceeds from the Adams County
Open Space Sales Tax, and from private donations and grants from
organizations including the Daniels, Fund, Colorado Garden Club, Cal
Ripken, Sr. Foundation, the Baseball Tomorrow Fund and Buffalo Wild
Wings.
In 2015, a 54-by-120-foot, $120,000 outdoor Futsal course was donated to
the Suncor club by the Colorado Rapids and the USA Soccer Foundation.
The new multipurpose 踞eld to open this year is 135 feet by 210 feet.
“It’ll be great once it’s open because we’ll have our own practice facility
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3/9/2017
Suncor Boys and Girls Club in Commerce City to open multi­sport playing field – The Denver Post
“It’ll be great once it’s open because we’ll have our own practice facility
and we won’t have to borrow from other schools nearby,” said Nic Jones,
Suncor club athletic specialist. “It can be hard to make that walk with 20
kids and all the equipment we need to get over there.”
But for Mowlid, the new 踞eld means he can get in even more time for
football practice.
“Central is up the street from here, but it still takes time to get there and
get back, and that takes away from how long we’re able to practice,” he
said. “It’ll be great to have it right next door here. I can’t wait.”
TAGS: BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB,
YOUTH SPORTS
Megan Mitchell
2012.
Megan Mitchell works for YourHub, The Denver Post's
community news section, covering Aurora and Adams
County. She started
as a city
desk
intern@mmitchelldp
for The Post in
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