The Friends of Coal Soccer Complex at Trace Fork was officially dedicated on March 25. The dedication drew a large crowd and the two large fields were named in honor of past-WVCA Chairman and Pritchard Mining President Andrew Jordon and board member and Asset Management Principal Ralph Ballard. Both men had worked tirelessly, making significant donations of time, money and effort into making the fields a reality.
From the very beginning, more than ten years ago, our members stepped up to provide the “heavy lifting” to make sure this vision became a magnificent asset to the Kanawha County area. Initially, Ralph Ballard (Asset Management Group) marshaled equipment, operators and support for the extensive earth moving and grading work that had to be done to complete the tremendous complex of grass fields. The second dimension of this complex was then undertaken with Andrew Jordon (Pritchard Mining) and his people in the development of the turf field. The facility was a collective effort through individual in-kind contributions by Asset Management, Pritchard Mining, Walker Machinery, Rish Equipment, Rudd Equipment and Maxum Petroleum.
It has been announced that the facility will be home to all of the University of Charleston’s Women’s Soccer home games and practices. In addition, the field has already been used by an estimated 800 kids between mid-January to the end of February. Organizers say the facility is quickly getting booked up! For example the month of August already has nearly 2,300 kids registered to use the complex.
Turnout for the dedication was excellent, with several hundred in attendance.