Foley Sports Tourism Complex (FSTC) was chosen Jan. 6, to host the 2016 National Intramural Recreation Sports Association (NIRSA) National Soccer Championship, Nov. 17-19 of this year. The estimated economic impact is between $2.5-$2.8 million, based on past events. It will also generate between 1,490 to 1,690 room nights.

“It’s begun, y’all; it’s begun,” said Executive Director of Foley Sports Tourism Complex Don Staley.

FSTC and NIRSA held a press conference to announce the news for the city of Foley on one of the newly sodded fields at the complex.

“I want to recognize our city leadership team: Mike Thompson, our city administrator, who’s been a driving force behind this; Jeff Rouzie, who’s been incredible with this project; and of course, it starts with our mayor and city council,” Staley said. “We’ve got our first field with sod on it; top-of-the-line Foley sod. Behind me you can see the preparation of our other fields. It’s a very important project for the city of Foley.”

FSTC will be home to 15 challenge fields with Musco lighting and one championship field with stadium seating.

“We will play soccer, lacrosse, ultimate Frisbee … anything that has large squad sizes that can put heads in the beds in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, shop at Tanger and the rest of our stores here,” said Staley. “We’ve got full support from the Foley Police Department, fire and rescue. It’s a team; It’s Team Foley if you want the truth.”

Director of National Sports Programs for NIRSA Valerie McCutchan and her team were available at the press conference to discuss what NIRSA is, what it is comprised of and what the organization does.

“We’re excited to be here and it takes a team to do what we do,” McCutchan said. “We work with collegiate sport clubs, and they’re not backed by athletics or a varsity program. The students we’re bringing in are ones that have done fundraising and working all year to come.”

The organization moves the tournament around and has grown to 96 teams. NIRSA looks for communities to host such a large group, a place that has 14 to 15 fields that are “state of the art, ready to go and handle weather situations,” according to McCutchan.

“We’re in our 23rd year and we’re trying to increase the quality,” she said. “For us, it’s about the experience we provide for the student athletes that are coming in and also for us, it’s about bringing our staff in to make sure they have a good experience. We’re about professional development, growing future leaders, and that’s why we do these events; that’s why we’re passionate about this. We look forward to our event in November and we’ll look at future events down the road.”

Past NIRSA tournaments have been held in Phoenix, Austin, Memphis, Pensacola and Statesboro, among others. They’ve been across the southern part of the country for 23 years, and this November, Foley, Alabama, will be added to that list.

FSTC anticipated completion date of the sports fields is early summer 2016. Construction partners include Killan Construction, general contractor; Hoar Program Management, project management; and Woerner Turf, providing sod.