Two local organizations are joining forces to ensure youths and adults in the Bangor area continue to have a place to participate in all types of sports.
In an agreement between the board of directors for both organizations, River City Athletics is taking over operations of Fields4Kids effective immediately, both organizations announced earlier this week.
The expansion will allow River City Athletics a home base at the Field4Kids Farm Road facility for all winter and spring soccer programs.
It includes a home base for offseason training sessions and preseason practices for those participating in the Soccer Maine Pine Tree League and Maine State Premier League.
All programs under operation at Fields4Kids, including the ongoing partnership with Fusion: Bangor, will remain intact, and the expansion guarantees that all programs now in place will continue in the future.
The Fields4Kids facility features 12,500 square feet of synthetic FieldTurf capable of hosting soccer, lacrosse, baseball, softball, football, field hockey, dodgeball and lacrosse.
Given that River City Athletics had trained at the Fields4Kids facility, the partnership made sense, Fields4Kids Executive Director M.J. Ball said.
“We were kind of looking at each other, we have a similar mission, so in 2017, let’s combine forces,” said Ball, also River City Athletics’ Director of Coaching and the girls’ soccer coach at Hermon High School.
“Everything pretty much is still separate, but really it’s two separate entities, but under one umbrella.”
River City Athletics was started in 2014 to meet the needs of the youth sports community of eastern, central and northern Maine and to provide an affordable option for athletes to hone their skills in the sports that they enjoy.
Ball said athletes come from as far as Presque Isle and Waterville to train with River City Athletics.
“We want to be able to provide a safe space for youth and adults that need it,” Ball said.
Fields4Kids has been in operation since January 2009, and its fields were provided via a U.S. Soccer foundation grant.
