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Acres Of New Sports Fields Open In Oceanside

Boys elite high school lacrosse teams face off at the Surf Storm Tournament held at the newly open El Corazon fields in Oceanside, Nov 15, 2014
Promise Yee
Boys elite high school lacrosse teams face off at the Surf Storm Tournament held at the newly open El Corazon fields in Oceanside, Nov 15, 2014

A major new sports facility opened in Oceanside over the weekend.

The fifty-three acres of new sports fields at El Corazon Park have space for teams from around the country to hold soccer and lacrosse tournaments.

Pat Collins, a partner of SoCal Sports Complex that manages the city's fields, said the process to get the fields approved and developed took eight years. Once the site was graded, the grass was laid down and ready for tournament play in less than three months.

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"We started laying grass August 22 and we're playing sports today,” Collins said. “This is very high demand. We're only doing 20 events next year. We have the ability to do 28 but we're going to stay a year with 20 events and see how the grass holds up."

The fields at El Corazon are one of four such facilities in Southern California. Last week teams from around Southern California held a tournament. Future tournaments will draw national and international soccer and lacrosse players.

The estimated economic impact to Oceanside is $22 million in visitor spending. Other North County cities will also profit.

An additional local benefit is to the Soccer Club of Oceanside, that serves over 2,000 Oceanside youth. It will have use of the fields for year round practices and games.

El Corazon city park is 465 acres. Plans are to build a hotel and pool on part of the remaining site, which will generate further income for the city.

Corrected: March 28, 2024 at 6:41 AM PDT
Promise Yee is a North County freelance writer. Contact her at promise805@hotmail.com. Twitter: @promisenews. Facebook: promise.yee.1.
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