Salinas Regional Soccer Complex closed indefinitely due to flooding
SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV)- The Salinas Regional Soccer Complex will be closed indefinitely after the grass fields and a large portion of the walking path are flooded due to the overflow of the Gavilan Creek into the soccer complex.
The season was suppose to start during the first weekend of March but has been pushed back due to the floodwaters. Jonathan De Anda who is the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex manager said it will take a couple of weeks to fix the fields.
"It looks like a lake more than a soccer complex," De Anda said. "We got to work through all the silt that's on the grass and get some of the repairs going."
De Anda has been the manager of the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex since 2019. He grew up playing on these fields and has never seen these fields get flooded this bad.
"I grew up here playing on these same same fields I've worked here for for three years and a half years, and I've never seen anything like what we experienced this past weekend," De Anda said.
De Anda are estimating the damages to the fields to be in the thousands but are waiting to see what it will take to repair the damages.
The Salinas Regional Soccer Complex is scheduled to have a groundbreaking of their next phase in April which includes two turf fields and eight additional natural grass fields. However, that could get pushed back depending on the weather conditions.
De Anda said that it is heartbreaking to let families know that the start of the season is delayed but is optimistic that they will bounce back.
"I played on these fields and I know when games got canceled, they crushed me," De Anda said. "It was not a good feeling to be able to say that we are closed so hopefully we can remedy this situation and get the families back out here as soon as possible."
