The playing field just got a little bigger in Frisco with the addition of another sports venue.
Performance Indoor Training+, a.k.a. the PIT+, was started by soccer parents for players of all ages. Not only does it add more fields to an already tight market, but it also fits with the city’s other sports offerings to attract visitors and promises a new level of play for the growing number of athletes.
The 56,000-square-foot facility along Meadow Hill Drive opened last month with two large indoor turf fields, one outdoor field certified by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association and two small outdoor fields.
Between the city’s demographics, the community’s interest in sports and the heavy use of existing parks and facilities, “it was a no-brainer in Frisco,” said James Meese, who owns the PIT+ with Brian Duncan.
Numbers already look promising, Meese said. The PIT+ registered 152 teams — more than 1,600 participants — for its first eight-week season of indoor play.
The $8 million facility also boasts new technology with a Robotic Training Center. It’s the only RTC in the world that’s open to the public — a handful of others are owned by private clubs in Mexico and Germany.
Developed by GTex Inc. in Farmers Branch, the simulator works like a batting cage by shooting balls toward the player from different directions. The player must relay the ball toward a designated target. The device works on accuracy, speed and field awareness.
“Spending about 10 minutes in the device is simulated where it’s about a week’s worth of training outside,” Meese said. “It’s all about touches.”
Big demand
Soccer is already big in Frisco. The city’s largest nonprofit youth league is the Frisco Soccer Association. It logged 512 recreational teams in the spring and expects even more for the fall based on sign-ups so far, according to registrar Amanda Moore.
Counting academy and competitive players, the association’s membership exceeds 8,000 youths between 3 and 18 years old.
Most games are held at the city’s outdoor fields at Warren Sports Complex and Harold Bacchus Community Park. The association also shares use of those fields in the fall with the Frisco Football League. But it’s a tight fit.
“Everyone’s main concern is, ‘Where can we practice?’” Moore said.
Other sports, including lacrosse, cricket, baseball and softball, also find public facilities tough to come by.
The city has 28 rectangular fields and 24 baseball-softball fields in its inventory for rec leagues.
Frisco City Council member Jeff Cheney said the city plans to acquire more park space for sports fields. “But we can never buy enough ourselves to reach the demand that Frisco currently has,” he said.
That’s where private partnerships come in. “The private sector can do fields and complexes that are nicer than what the city would normally do,” Cheney said.
Cowboys development
That’s definitely the case with the multiuse event center opening next year in the Dallas Cowboys development. It will boast an indoor playing field that meets both National Football League and University Interscholastic League playing standards.
“The uniqueness of the venue … will bring a whole new level of sports-related events we didn’t dream of,” Cheney said.
The multiuse event center will be added to the sports venues promoted by the Frisco Convention and Visitors Bureau to attract people from out of town. A big chunk of the city’s visitors revolves around sports, whether it’s the annual youth tournaments or one-time special events.
Last year, the CVB brought in 31 sports-related events totaling about 35,000 visitors and generating about $15 million in economic impact, said executive director Marla Roe.
Coming soon
The city, meanwhile, is reviewing its facilities and how best to use them. It’s also rethinking how it builds future parks. The idea is to cluster the fields for a particular sport in one location rather than spread them out around the city.
Frisco also is partnering with the cities of Allen, Plano, McKinney and Richardson on a regional athletic study. It will look not only at athletes’ participation rates but also the possibility of sports leagues that cross city boundaries. The idea is how best to maximize resources. The study’s $81,640 cost is being split among the five cities. The results are expected in January.
Four years ago, Frisco was dubbed by Men’s Journal as the best place to raise an athlete. The city’s sports scene has shown no signs of slowing down.
Steve Wentz, a real estate broker for Cushman & Wakefield, is working with a private entity that wants to open up shop in Frisco. They are partnering with the Frisco Economic Development Corp. to build a new sports complex with multiple outdoor fields, a small stadium and an indoor training facility. Details are still being worked out, but officials hope to announce specifics in the fall.
The city should be on the short list for anyone looking to do a sports-related business, said Cheney, adding: “There definitely is something happening here that is special from the sports level.”
