Soccer facilitators to change policies after damage to field

FIFA certified field more costly to maintain

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — The operators of an outdoor soccer facility in La Crosse are looking to change their policies after some of the fields were damaged.

Coulee Region United Soccer Association, or CRUSA, which runs the Fields for Kids soccer facility, is looking to possibly increase usage fees and fines for outside teams.

It comes after several incidents about six weeks ago where the fields were left in poor conditions after games. Three of their fields are FIFA certified, making it harder and more costly to maintain.

Now a third party usage agreement between the city, local La Crosse high schools, and CRUSA is making sure the fields stay intact.

“It is important those fields are maintained. They are under heavy use from all entities. We had a call a year ago from a local university to use our site because theirs was not certified, and they wanted to use it for a play-off game, so it’s important and we’re going to work through it,” said CRUSA President Jonella Rademacher.

CRUSA hopes the grass on the fields recovers before a large co-ed soccer tournament this weekend.