DAVENPORT, Iowa — The most popular sport on earth may soon be coming to Downtown Davenport in a whole new way. Urban Soccer is a 5v5 version of the sport, played on a smaller field about the size of a basketball court.
In 2017, the Bittner YMCA in Downtown Davenport bought the Astra Furniture Clearance Center which sits a stone's throw from the YMCA. Demolition of the furniture store is now underway, and the tentative plan is to build three urban soccer fields in its place. The goal is to provide a more economically accessible version of the sport that many love.
"Sports in general have really changed in the last five to 10 years," said Iowa Mississippi Valley YMCA CEO Brad Martell. "The for-profit sports business plan is leaving a lot of kids out that can't afford motel rooms and travel costs and everything."
The projected million-dollar project is still in its early stages, but if all goes well, the Y hopes to break ground in April.
"We need to get city approval through the City of Davenport, and then we need to get cost," Martell said. "We'll bid the project, there's about three different companies nationwide now that build this type of soccer complex."
The Bitner YMCA currently has a basketball program, partially funded by a grant from the Arconic Foundation, that allows lower-income families to afford their kids playing basketball.