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Coaches happy Iowa high school girls’ state soccer tournament will stay on grass fields in move to Ames
Iowa State and IGHSAU have state soccer agreement for 2025, 2026 and 2027 with extension options
Ryan Pleggenkuhle
Apr. 18, 2024 5:05 pm
MARION — Marion girls’ soccer coach Erik Trilk is a fan of the concept.
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union and Iowa State University announced Wednesday the girls’ state soccer tournament will be held in Ames, beginning in 2025. The agreement for Iowa State to host the tournament is for three years with extension options.
“I love the idea for a number of reasons,” Trilk said. “Playing at a ‘state-of-the-art stadium’ will be a great reward for the teams that make it there. And playing on natural grass that is taken care of will always be better than turf.”
The Cyclone Sports Complex, home to the Iowa State soccer team, opened in 2013 and holds about 1,500 spectators with a new video board and system expected to be installed this year.
“I think it’s really great for the girls just getting exposure to Division I schools and what the fields are like,” Linn-Mar Coach Hannah Clark said. “When I played at the University of Iowa, its grass field was amazing. These kinds of colleges keep really nice fields. So, it’ll be good for the players to play on it.”
Center Point-Urbana Coach Kevin Schmidt is a bit more skeptical of the move.
“The facilities look OK according to Google Maps, but without actually ever stepping foot at the venues it's hard to know for sure,” Schmidt said. “It will be a change for sure and based on the first two rounds being at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center and then the championships being at a completely different space, I'm not sure I'm a fan so far.
“From an aerial view, the fields at the Lied facility seem very tightly packed. Will there be enough room for fans and everything else that comes with the state tournament? We won't know until 2025 when we're there.”
Cownie Soccer Park in Des Moines will host this spring’s state tournament, as it has every year since 2013 (with the exception of COVID-canceled 2020 season).
“Obviously, we have only been to Cownie once as a team and so we just took the whole experience with open arms, but moving this to a state university is a smart move,” Trilk said. “It’s a great recruitment tool for in-state universities to keep athletes home.”
Cownie Park, which opened in 1998, consists of 12 natural grass fields and has been used by Drake and Grand View universities, Des Moines high school teams and youth programs.
“I've liked Cownie the times we've been there,” Schmidt said. “Are the fields perfect? No, but finding a perfect grass field in Iowa is hard to do.
“Each field has developed over the years to facilitate a good experience for the state tournament. Is it a little bit off the beaten path? Sure, but again, finding the space to house that many soccer fields sometimes requires you to venture outside the interior of the city.”
One concept is consensus among the three coaches: Playing on a well-maintained grass field is the preferred choice.
“We love grass fields and were extremely pleased when reading that it would remain on a grass surface,” Schmidt said. “I am not a fan of turf fields. You just don't get the natural ‘feel’ compared to grass and the way the ball moves, bounces, and reacts in all weather conditions.”