SAN FRANCISCO—On Tuesday, March 23, San Francisco Glens Soccer Club announced on its website its plans to develop a soccer facility at Treasure Island. The city of San Francisco voted unanimously in February to approve the construction of the new facility, which is expected to be complete by the spring of 2022.
SF Glens was founded in 1961 and is currently part of the United Soccer League (USL). The team is the first in city history to build its own soccer facility. The facility will include a FIFA-certified field along with two smaller fields for practice. It will also feature a futsal court that will welcome the San Francisco community.
“With soccer’s popularity rising, there aren’t enough fields in San Francisco to meet demand,” said Ryan Maquiñana, director of communications for SF Glens SC told San Francisco News. “As a result, renting them out for our nearly 70 youth and adult teams has become more difficult, not to mention more expensive every year.”
Maquiñana added that the organization estimates having their own field will give its teams an additional 700 training hours and 200 game hours per year.
“We’ve been waiting for an opportunity to secure land for a facility for quite some time now, so when this space at Treasure Island became available, we couldn’t pass that up,” he said.
Seating will hold up to 1,500 fans. A press box, lights, locker rooms, media room, concessions, and restrooms will be built at the facility. One side of the facility will have a view of the Bay Bridge, with the San Francisco skyline on the other.
A combination of grants, sponsorships, and donations will help fund the construction. The club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
In 2018, the club added a team to USL League Two. This team is the highest ranking team of SF Glens SC. It currently sits at the top of their Pathway Pyramid, a system that aims to elevate youth athletes to play at collegiate and professional levels. Since 2018, four Glens have advanced to college soccer, a professional contract, or the MLS SuperDraft.
According to a statement, the new facility will allow the club “to add more training opportunities to improve the way we develop our players and more revenue opportunities in hosting games to offset annual operating costs”
The club has over 1,000 players in its system spread out on nearly 70 teams.
“It’s undoubtedly a game-changer for us,” Maquiñana said. “An actual facility in a market like San Francisco with the potential to expand is something we hope will allow us to take the next step toward going professional on the men’s, and possibly, women’s side.”
