Soccer complex project receives $100,000

HERMON – A local youth soccer organization has received a $100,000 grant that will be used to help fund a four-field soccer complex on Outer Hammond Street.

The nonprofit Blackbear United Football Club has been awarded $100,000 by the U.S. Soccer Foundation and hopes to begin construction later this summer on the project.

In February, the club received a donation of 32.5 acres on Outer Hammond Street where they are planning to build the complex.

The project includes a lighted, all-weather showcase field with a training field, two grass practice fields and a walking path.

The complex, which will be located at the old drive-in movie theater near the Sports Arena, will be an asset to the region, according to MJ Ball, the club’s director of operations.

“It’s going to affect eastern Maine, not just the Bangor area,” he said in an interview last week.

Blackbear United offers competitive soccer programs for players ages 5 to 18.

Teams train and play in indoor leagues and tournaments throughout the winter months and then compete in league play and tournaments in the spring and summer months.

Since the teams don’t train or play in the fall, the field complex will be available to all recreation, travel, high school, and college teams, Ball explained.

The first phase of the two-part project will include construction of the four fields, and is expected to cost about $500,000.

With the grant and money from a recent spring fundraiser, the club has raised about $120,000.

“We’ve submitted a whole bunch of other grants right now that we’re waiting on,” Ball said.

He’s also hoping that an upcoming donor wall campaign aimed at local businesses and corporations will prove successful, and with additional fundraising will be enough to raise the necessary $500,000 in the next couple of months.

Ball said Hermon town officials have been very helpful in getting the project off the ground, and he’s hoping that some local businesses will support the complex with in-kind donations to begin construction at the site as soon as possible.

Phase two of the club’s three-year plan will require about $750,000, Ball said. The goal is to build two grass fields, an indoor infrastructure over the training field, a walking-fitness path for community members.

More than 300 members travel from 48 Maine towns to participate in the club, making this a regional project, Ball said.

“We have kids that travel from Greenville and Fort Kent, all the way down to Calais,” he said. “It’s only going to benefit the region. It’s what we like to call a creative economy.”

Donations can be sent to the club’s office at Blackbear United Football Club, 136 Maine Road North, Hampden 04444. For more information, Ball can be reached at mjball@blackbearunited.com or by calling the club’s hot line at 862-4154 ext. 2.