Decision to Table Rabbit Hill Expansion Rankles Soccer Club

The Dacula Soccer Club is asking club parents and soccer fans to contact the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners regarding the recent decision to table the expansion project.

The decision means two new soccer fields, which were expected to be completed within 18-24 months, are now on hold.

These two new fields are extremely important to the club and the Dacula community as a whole according to Jackie Fukartas, director of the Dacula Soccer Club’s executive board.

“These fields are crucial in continuing to grow our soccer club,” Fukartas said. 

The Dacula Soccer Club has already outgrown its current facilities. Since its start in 1999, the club has grown in numbers to 1,850 players per season. The program includes recreation, travel (Academy and Select), a 4-year-old program, junior academy, adult league and TopSoccer (for mentally and physically challenged players). 

“Due to this exponential growth, the biggest issue we now face is the lack of field space, as we are busting at the seams,” wrote Scotty Duncan, Dacula Soccer Club executive board member, and Kevin Scheiwe, director of the recreational program, in a combined email.

“This year we will have to begin games an hour earlier, and shrink our practice spaces just to accommodate all the players and teams participating in our various programs,” Duncan and Scheiwe wrote. “Our biggest fear is that we reach a point where we have to start turning down players or cutting programs because we do not have the space needed to accommodate everyone that wants to participate.”

In an email to members, Dacula Soccer Club staff said the construction project for the soccer fields and the expansion for the Mountain View side of Rabbit Hill park (football and baseball) was recently bid as a joint project. The voting public approved the SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) action in 2009, which included the funds for these capital improvements. The decision to table the project was an unwelcome surprise for the soccer club.

“We as a staff were pretty disappointed.” Duncan and Scheiwe wrote. “The members of the club, along with the club’s board of directors, have worked extremely hard to obtain more soccer fields. Then at this late hour to hear that the commissioners are going to table the entire project indefinitely, that really was quite a shock to us all.”

Katy Guerra’s family has been involved in soccer teams at Rabbit Hill Park since 2004. She has seen the program grow tremendously and plans on contacting a commissioner soon.

“My girls play travel league soccer so we play games away at other fields as well as at Rabbit Hill,” Katy said. “It is very crowded when the rec league is also playing games at Rabbit Hill. It limits game times and puts strain on all the grounds keepers.”

The Dacula Soccer Club encourages parents and supporters to contact commissioners to let them know how important the Rabbit Hill expansion project and the additional two fields are to the club, the community and their children.

“We need the members of our club to speak up and request that the Board of Commissioners keep the project on track and get it done as soon as possible.” Duncan and Scheiwe wrote. “The new field space will most certainly further our mission to promote and grow the game of soccer within our community.”

Mike Beaudreau is the commissioner for Gwinnett County’s District 3 which covers the eastern part of the county from the Highway 78 corridor north to I-85 and includes the cities of Snellville, Loganville, Grayson, Dacula and Auburn. He can be reached at Mike.Beaudreau@gwinnettcounty.com.