St. Charles Sportsplex Celebrates 5th Anniversary

ST. CHARLES, IL — Plans are in the works to celebrate the five year anniversary of the St. Charles Park District's Sportsplex.

The park district plans to host an open house from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 14 to mark the occasion, according to a news release.

The celebration will feature some of the park district’s partners at Sportsplex including Kale Training, Smith Physical Therapy & Running, Fox Valley Special Recreation Association, All Star Sports Instruction as well as several local sports organizations in the community, according to park district officials.

The Sportsplex is a 62,000 square-foot building that includes a fieldhouse with two turf fields. There is additional spaces with a multi-purpose room and office and work space for in-building partners including the FVSRA, Kale Training and the newest addition, Smith Physical Therapy & Running which moved into an upper floor space this spring.

The turf fields can be used for soccer, football, baseball, tee ball, whiffle ball, softball, lacrosse, kickball, dodgeball and cheerleading, Sportsplex Manager Cayla Greenfield said.

Greenfield said the St. Charles Park District has formed "incredible partnerships" with numerous sports organizations that rent turf and more to host their practices and events at the Sportsplex.

“We want to thank those who helped us get to this point,” Greenfield said. “It’s been a phenomenal, all the support we have.”

Well before teams pass out uniforms, they are vying for rental times on the turfs for indoor practices during the winter months, Greenfield said.

In the evening, fields are filled with players stretching and kicking, girls and boys of all ages including some adult recreation leagues all train inside the building. From soccer and softball to rugby and cheerleading, local teams consider Sportsplex their home turf for workouts and practices during the winter months.

Additionally, the local high schools also rent space for their teams as well, Greenfield added.

In addition to hosting sports and practices, the park district also offers its own sports programming on the field as well as events for local homeschool co-ops and mom and tot open field time with Itsy Bitsy Playtime.

In the winter months, the indoor walking opportunity is a popular activity to get some steps in a climate-controlled area.

“We see people who stop and chat and those who are here to get in their exercise,” she said.

As much as she enjoys seeing the teams visit for their practices, Greenfield said one of her favorite events is helping host birthday parties at Sportsplex, which includes use of a field for sports games and the multipurpose room for cake and snacks.

“We make it super easy for the parents to enjoy a birthday celebration,” Greenfield said.

Taking on the building meant upgrades, repairs and enhancements, Greenfield said, but the work has made the building more accessible to everyone and provided improvements.

“The best part of work is coming in and seeing so many different groups using the facility for training, practices, scrimmages and even celebrations,” Greenfield said.