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Doug Black has been a resident on the Treasure Coast for 30 years.
Coaching the Fort Pierce Central boys soccer for two years before taking over the same position at St. Lucie West Centennial in 1998, the longtime Eagles coach has witnessed firsthand the tremendous growth of the area’s soccer community, let alone St. Lucie County more than doubled in population within that time.
With Monday’s announcement of a new professional soccer organization set to call Port St. Lucie its home, Black believes the soccer community will only get bigger.
“I can tell you right now that not only in Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce, but probably going down to West Palm Beach and up to Melbourne that this is going to attract a lot of interest from players, very good players to put together a team,” he said. “It would be a great way for very good players to continue playing.”
More: Port St. Lucie Sports Club to join United Soccer League with new Florida stadium
More: Will Port St. Lucie Sports Club stadium 'kick off' economic growth at Walton & One?
In the spring 2027, Port St. Lucie Sports Club will be the newest men’s soccer squad to join USL League One, a second-tier division as part of the United Soccer League. A women’s team will be formed shortly after.
That’s all good news for Kyle Costigan, who has served as the Treasure Coast High girls soccer head coach for the past five years.
“It can’t possibly bring anything bad to the community. It’s all positive,” he said. “Having a professional presence gives my girls and all the other teams in the area, and even all the kids that aren’t even in high school yet, it gives them something to look up to and look forward to. It gives them role models, it gives them goals. That’s all incredible.”
Port St. Lucie Sports Club’s home stadium will seat 6,000 people and will be built at the Walton & One development at Walton Road and U.S. 1 at a cost of $55 million. Ebenezer Stadium LLC will pay for the stadium, with Port St. Lucie’s Community Redevelopment Agency reimbursing the LLC for half of the costs.
Given the price tag, Black believes improving facilities for youth soccer clubs, such as Mako Soccer Club and PSL Hurricanes Soccer Club, would’ve been a better investment for the city to make.
“I know that is something that has been brought up by both clubs. I wish they could’ve looked at that as well when they’re spending millions of dollars on soccer,” Black said. “I think it’s great that they are investing money on soccer, but I wish they would’ve spread it around a little bit better.”
Costigan echoed some of Black’s sentiments, expanding his concern toward area high school playing fields. He hopes that the stadium would be open to hosting high school events and tournaments.
“We have a lot of growth in St. Lucie County, we have an enormous amount of kids. And quite frankly, we are lacking in some of the facilities to provide our kids with the best athletic experience possible,” he said. “So anything that the city and schools and all of that combined can do to give us a great place to play and create a great experience for the kids would be a benefit in my eyes.”
Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at 772-985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Treasure Coast soccer coaches react to PSL Sports Club, new stadium
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Coaching the Fort Pierce Central boys soccer for two years before taking over the same position at St. Lucie West Centennial in 1998, the longtime Eagles coach has witnessed firsthand the tremendous growth of the area’s soccer community, let alone St. Lucie County more than doubled in population within that time.
With Monday’s announcement of a new professional soccer organization set to call Port St. Lucie its home, Black believes the soccer community will only get bigger.
“I can tell you right now that not only in Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce, but probably going down to West Palm Beach and up to Melbourne that this is going to attract a lot of interest from players, very good players to put together a team,” he said. “It would be a great way for very good players to continue playing.”
More: Port St. Lucie Sports Club to join United Soccer League with new Florida stadium
More: Will Port St. Lucie Sports Club stadium 'kick off' economic growth at Walton & One?
In the spring 2027, Port St. Lucie Sports Club will be the newest men’s soccer squad to join USL League One, a second-tier division as part of the United Soccer League. A women’s team will be formed shortly after.
That’s all good news for Kyle Costigan, who has served as the Treasure Coast High girls soccer head coach for the past five years.
“It can’t possibly bring anything bad to the community. It’s all positive,” he said. “Having a professional presence gives my girls and all the other teams in the area, and even all the kids that aren’t even in high school yet, it gives them something to look up to and look forward to. It gives them role models, it gives them goals. That’s all incredible.”
Port St. Lucie Sports Club’s home stadium will seat 6,000 people and will be built at the Walton & One development at Walton Road and U.S. 1 at a cost of $55 million. Ebenezer Stadium LLC will pay for the stadium, with Port St. Lucie’s Community Redevelopment Agency reimbursing the LLC for half of the costs.
Given the price tag, Black believes improving facilities for youth soccer clubs, such as Mako Soccer Club and PSL Hurricanes Soccer Club, would’ve been a better investment for the city to make.
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“I know that is something that has been brought up by both clubs. I wish they could’ve looked at that as well when they’re spending millions of dollars on soccer,” Black said. “I think it’s great that they are investing money on soccer, but I wish they would’ve spread it around a little bit better.”
Costigan echoed some of Black’s sentiments, expanding his concern toward area high school playing fields. He hopes that the stadium would be open to hosting high school events and tournaments.
“We have a lot of growth in St. Lucie County, we have an enormous amount of kids. And quite frankly, we are lacking in some of the facilities to provide our kids with the best athletic experience possible,” he said. “So anything that the city and schools and all of that combined can do to give us a great place to play and create a great experience for the kids would be a benefit in my eyes.”
Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at 772-985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Treasure Coast soccer coaches react to PSL Sports Club, new stadium
Continue reading...
