Ground was broken Friday, Aug. 8, at the site of the future Warrior Soccer Complex. The facility, now just 50 acres of grass, will contain 22 soccer fields, including two with artificial turf. The complex also will have administration buildings, picnic shelters, bridges over Mossy Creek and a pond.

"It is of the utmost importance that we have a place that’s ours," said Scott Creech, Club Vice President  "It’s important to have a place that’s dedicated only to soccer, a place where we can schedule everything."

Carol Maas, president of the Warrior Soccer Club, has been working to get a complex like this for 10 years.

"We had to rent fields, and that was very expensive," she said. "It took a long time to find the right place, the right location."

The 38-team club will hold its regular-season games at the facility, but will still have to rent more fields for the Warrior Soccer Classic, which has grown into one of the bigger soccer tournaments in the country. More than 520 teams fill 63 fields around the area.

The land for the new complex was purchased from the Huber Heights peewee football organization in 2006. The cost of the facility is estimated at more than $9.8 million.

Maas said Warrior Soccer received grants from the United States Soccer Foundation. She also said Warrior Soccer will rent out the fields that aren’t in use, giving the complex a chance to be a big money-maker.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2013, though Maas is hoping to have the fields ready in time for the Classic in May 2010.