Soccer

Arena changes aimed at parents

BRANDON -- Jay Ayres knew there was more to this 25,000-square-foot arena than just soccer.

Starting next week, he'll have a chance to prove it.

"I've always perceived it as being, potentially, a real solid community center," said Ayres, new manager of Brandon Indoor Soccer Inc. "I always felt that they could do a lot more with it than what had been done."

Ayres is in charge of some major changes designed to shift the 8-year-old arena's emphasis from youth soccer to all-ages soccer. Pickup games and league play start March 8.

"We talked about turning this into a community spot, a place where people would come and maybe hang out a while," Ayres said. "It'll have more of a professional flow to it."

The renovations will also entice parents to stick around while their children practice, which John Primiano, a past president of the 2,300-member Brandon Area Youth Soccer League, said could help boost community involvement.

"It happens when the kids get a little bit older -- the parents all of a sudden just leave them there with the coaches and come back an hour and a half later and pick them up," he said.

One big difference will be in the arena's snack bar. Customers will still find stadium fare -- hot dogs and potato chips -- but the new menu will also include freshly brewed gourmet coffee and fresh fruit smoothies and parfaits.

"The whole idea is to accentuate the healthy aspects that are normally promoted in a health spa," Ayres said of the new offerings.

Another new feature is an on-site wireless Internet network, which parents can use to finish up work from the office while their children finish practice.

The network will employ "Wi-Fi" technology, a form of wireless Internet that allows several computers or PDA's within a small radius to share one high-speed Internet connection. Ayres said that as long as their laptop or PDA is set up for Wi-Fi, anyone can log on.

"It's just to go that extra step to provide as much as we think we can possibly provide for an adult offering," Ayres said.

Primiano said the coffee and Internet access could yield quick results.

"I do think that's something that would keep parents there," he said.

Felipe Sandoval of Temple Terrace used to take his son to soccer practice at Brandon Indoor Soccer, and he occasionally comes there to play pickup games himself. He said the changes will make the arena even more attractive to parents.

"Having followed my son for 13 years throughout different fields and indoor soccer facilities, one of the problems is, you need a little place to sit down, have a cup of coffee, relax a little bit, watch them play," he said.

The company will also branch out when it comes to sports. In the past, the arena has hosted such sports as roller hockey and flag football, but neither were successful.

Ayres said more volleyball and early morning soccer matches are planned, and the arena may introduce "footvolley" -- a soccer/volleyball hybrid popular on Brazilian beaches -- later this year.

In the meantime, Ayres and Luciano Fernandez, the arena's director of coaching, will emphasize futsal, a South American version of indoor soccer played on a smaller field with five players per side.

"Everybody that I've seen that's played it, once they play it, they love it," Ayres said. "It's actually faster-moving than indoor soccer."

-- Jay Cridlin can be reached at 661-2442cq or cridlin@sptimes.com .

Membership

League play kicks off March 8 and runs through May 10. For youth teams, the cost of membership is $75 per player or $650 per team; for adults, the cost is $85 per player or $750 per team. The costs include a jersey T-shirt and referee fees.

For information, contact Jay Ayres at 654-5400.