The lights shined a little brighter Wednesday night at the Capstone Soccer Complex in East Richland.
That lumen level will continue for the foreseeable future, thanks to the culmination of 18 months of hard work, determination, and some generous donors.
The St. Clairsville Area Soccer Association held its donor appreciation night inside the Noon Rotary Pavilion to show its thanks to the donors who helped raised the $200,00 needed for the facility’s lighting project.
“We wanted to thank all of the donors for all of the help and assistance, as well as all of the support we’ve received from the community,” said Rick Ferrell, SCASA’s treasurer and one of the longtime members of the organization.
Back in 2021, SCASA announced an ambitious project to erect permanent light towers at its Capstone Soccer Complex. The organization set out seeking funding and donations.
And in typical fashion, both the business community and individual donors responded.
“We had 27 donors, either individual, business, or foundation, that donated $1,000 or more,” Ferrell said. “We had another 22 individual or business donors that gave under $1,000.”
A Growing Need
Soccer under the lights has taken place at Capstone the last eight years for its recreational league soccer matches.
ICR donated portable light towers enabled games to extend past the point of darkness, a fact for which the SCASA organization will forever be grateful.
But while games could go on past dusk at Capstone, the lighting wasn’t quite powerful enough and as dusk turned to full-on darkness, it was difficult to see portions of the field.
“ICR donated those and, in eight years, they never asked us for a dime,” Ferrell said. “But it came to a point where we needed to do something permanent.
“It was becoming too much to get everything set up each (season). We’d pick them up and bring them out to be set, then return back at night and get them placed and it was just a tremendous amount of work and not nearly as effective. There wasn’t enough to light the field properly.”
Earlier this season, the first official games were held under the new lights at Capstone, a night where a number of U-6 and U-8 teams were playing, meaning some of the organizations youngest players got their first taste of night-time futbol.
Safe to say, the added atmosphere was a big hit.
“We couldn’t get all of the donors together to do the appreciation night earlier, and we needed the lights (working) before that, so a bunch of the U-6 and U-8 kids got to play the first game under the light,” Ferrell said. “They were thrilled to be playing under the lights and just loved it.”
Long Process
Ferrell, during his speech at the presentation, called the lighting project’s culmination the “icing on the cake” of the last 25 years.
SCASA began back in 1998 with little more than a grass parking lot at the old Belmont County Fairgrounds on which to host games and practices. It was from there where a dedicated group of individuals began to build what the organization has become today.
Five years into the organization, the SCASA board presented an idea to three individuals from the Capstone Holding Company about building a soccer complex for the kids in Belmont County.
Those individuals, John Dutton, Mike Britt, and Danny Taylor, were also on-hand for the presentation.
From there, the organization grew, with a number of fields at the complex for players of all ages.
Then came the building of the pavilion, converting it from an open-air facility only into a multi-use building available for rental. The pavilion was even expanded to accommodate more people should the need arise. And it has. With more than $100,00 in renovations, it’s become an enticing venue, ready to host a whole assortment of events.
So many additions, so many upgrades, and best of all, it’s been done with all donations, private funding, and a lot of volunteer work. No public funds have been spent on the project.
Two fields are now named to reflect that generosity and dedication. One is now named Unified Bank Field. The other? David B. Hahn Field.
The current SCASA president and fellow founding members has been a driving force behind the organization since its inception.
“He’s been our leader for the last 25 years,” Ferrell said. “The community will forever be reminded now what Dave Hahn has done for the children of Belmont County.
“We thank him and can’t think of anyone more deserving of this honor.”
