College inks $475K deal for ‘Cougars Field’

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This article was published 09/03/2024 (725 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The largest soccer pitch at the City of Brandon’s under-construction outdoor sports complex will be named “Cougars Field” after Assiniboine Community College inked a 15-year deal to name it after their sports teams.

A release sent out Friday said the $475,000 deal will also grant the college preferred field times as well as access to signage and amenities. The college will not be responsible for any operating costs at the facility.

“We are thrilled to have Assiniboine College as a partner in the Maple Leaf Foods Sports Complex,” Mayor Jeff Fawcett said in the release.

“Assiniboine is a valued partner of the City of Brandon, and together with all of our sponsors, we are committed to enhancing our city for the benefit of all.”

The move comes just under six months after Maple Leaf Foods signed a 10-year deal for the entire complex to bear its name.

The complex, which is being built at the northeast corner of the intersection of First Street North and Veterans Way, is directly south of ACC’s North Hill campus.

Quoted in the release, ACC president Mark Frison said the proximity of the field to the campus was one of the reasons the deal made sense.

Another stated reason was that the college has estimated building a field on its own land would cost more than $1 million, plus operating costs.

“For the college, this makes best use of scarce resources for capital development and operating costs for our varsity athletic program,” Frison said. “Further, it allows the field to be used by the rest of the community and managed by those with expertise in the sport.”

Last season, the Cougars played their home games at the Brandon Sportsplex.

By email, Frison said in past years, the college’s teams have played and practised at several different fields, often having to play games in different locations than where they practice.

“Having a home field close to our campuses will make a big difference to the team and help with the ability of our campus community to cheer on the Cougars in a predictable, professional location,” Frison wrote.

As for how the college will manage its preferred access to the field, Frison said the Cougars will be able to book times for games and practices in advance after the release of league schedules.

Ground broke on the first of three phases of construction in May 2023. The first phase is to consist of five soccer fields, an ultimate Frisbee field and improvements to dikes on the edge of the complex closest to the Assiniboine River.

Phase two will see the construction of a clubhouse with washrooms and changerooms, the FIFA-sized field, two cricket fields with a practice batting area, some roadwork and a parking lot.

The final phase involves the construction of four more soccer fields and another cricket field. Eight of the soccer fields will be sized for 11-on-11 games, with another field designed for smaller nine-on-nine games.

Last August, Brandon City Council was told that staff expected the facility to be operational by spring 2025 and the project was $400,000 under budget.

At that point, around $16.6 million had been set aside for the project: $6.7 million from the provincial government, $6 million from the City of Brandon and $3.9 million from the federal government.

When the former Progressive Conservative provincial government announced a $2.5-million grant before last year’s election, city staff said some of those funds would be used to install artificial turf on the FIFA-sized pitch.

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