The President of Soccer Northwest refuses to give up on the multi-use indoor turf facility.
Following city council’s 7-5 vote not to award the contract to Tom Jones Corporation, Michael Veneziale admits while there is no clear path going forward, he maintains this is by no means dead in the water.
“For 7 years this project has moved forward, and because of one vote on a tender, that should not stop this. What should happen, is it should pivot, to figure out, what, if anything, can be done to make it happen,” says Veneziale.
He also disputes claims other government funding would disappear with a yes vote, saying that is not true.
There is also concern for those negatively impacted by the decision. The Soccer Northwest President tells us by not building something usable for all sports teams, professional coaches are without a job, and the future of many others are uncertain. “There are players that are attempting to gain scholarships, to be able to go away for school, they can’t do that. There’s people that want to train to try to make Ontario and national teams, they don’t have that capability.”
Veneziale also believes the facility could help many people.
He points out there will always be needs such as infrastructure or reaching the homeless, but adds we can do more.
“No one is ever going to debate that we need to do more for our homeless community, or the ones that are in greater need. But to say this facility won’t help so many, soccer and a lot of these sports tend to be the most affordable,” says Veneziale.
The Soccer Northwest President adds this facility would have also been good for conventions.
