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Seriously? A bunch of skinny skate kids can chase off a group of hockey players with pads & sticks?

Maintenance: yeah, it seems the only way things get maintained is if someone elects themselves mayor of that facility and regularly communicates with the Parks dept. Sometimes it's DIY.

don't forget about the heights!

I will personally talk to Steven about possibly making a couple of turf fields down by 440 next to lincoln park west.

Turf fields have a lower maintenance cost than grass, plus I know a company owner who can help with estimates.

P.S @ Newbie, Heinz was my coach about 10 years ago. He lives out by summit now.

You can play soccer anywhere - just set up some goals, cones and you've got a pick-up game. I had to do this a lot for my daughter growing up in Hamilton Park and the surrounding area.

Organized soccer is a little tougher. It takes a lot of space and maintenance for a real soccer field, costs money.

Write your councilman - I always see Healy and Fulop in the JCSA ceremonies professing how much they love soccer, support it, blah blah blah.

Contact Coach Alex Lalaoui of the Soccer Learning Center and he can hook anyone up for a program or game.

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A- Because it is shit. Even when it was being used, the city wouldn't maintain it.

B- When you try to use it, they skateboarders attempt to chase you off. The only time they don't is when you bring your dog.

yes, we have an open space deficit and could benefit from a dedicated open space tax/fund like we have at the county level. and yes, we need more park and recreation space (easily accessible) to meet the needs of our growing (and planned growth) population.

I too love soccer. I wish we had more sports facilities being built rather than than just residential construction.

There is a very active soccer community in JC, but unfortunately, there aren't many places to play.

There is a very nice field near Grand and Merseles, near the Turnpike entrance downtown, but for some reason it is for Hans Soliz league teams only.

The other youth teams I know of play at the athletic fields at Caven Point. Sadly, while the football, baseball, and softball fields are well-maintained, the soccer field is unlit and poorly maintained, so playing there can be a real challenge--there are huge ruts in the field in front of the goals and in the center of the field. It's really an embarrassing field to play on. I believe those athletic fields are maintained by the Jersey City Board of Education.

Oh, and I went to see Pele play for the Cosmos way back when--good times! They are bringing back a team under the Cosmos name soon, I believe.

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Then why has the hockey rink at Enos Jones Park (Povonia & Brunswick) been a failure? Far as I know it's used mostly by the board & BMX crowd.

There is also a lot of inline hockey players in the area. Someone should build an indoor soccer field/hockey rink like they have in Metuchen and Aberdeen. They seem to do very well.

To Kiro: There are fields that the kids and adults play, Lincoln Park, Caven Point, Grand Street and indoor at TSLC on 9th Street. Hoboken and Weehawken too!! However, it is not enough because there is such a demand for use of these fields. You are at the mercy of the softball/baseball leagues at Lincoln Park.

To 1stSTguy: You have no clue what you are writing about, the interest of soccer in Hudson County is huge, go to Weehawken any weekend, go to Grand Street on Saturdays and Sundays and you will see leagues and pickup games with all type of teams ranging from eastern euro to central and south american and americans who grew up playing soccer, stopped, and then regained their love for the sport.
I can't blame you for assuming soccers unpopularity, but the need for more fields (on the west side near the Pulaski Skyway) is in extreme demand.

Maybe it's not soccer friendly because nobody has any real interest in soccer?

and i have the perfect solution for soccer playing space; the entire top parking lot of the Newport Mall should become soccer play grounds.

Back in 1977 there where about 20 or so kids my age all sons of immigrants from Argentina, Italy, Poland, Ghana, Eygpt, Yugoslavia who lived in Jersey City Heights(very urban area) where the only place we found to play soccer was on either on strip of dirt next to 2 huge beautifully maintained baseball fields, that had 20 ft high fences and locked to keep us out, although we would climb over the fences, we would eventually were caught and thrown out usually with threats and racial slurs. PERSHING FIELD PARK is the name of park (located on Central ave between Manhattan Ave and Resovoir Ave) I was only 11 years old and every kid was about the same age or so. At one point there a German man named Heinz who taught us things, eventually he moved and never saw him again. We luckily we allowed to play on the parking lot of a cardboard company named the Davey company where all the workers where Italian and one of boy?s family was the foreman. It was like paradise for us (our beloved Davey Co.)?because they had built regular sized goals made out of wood with nets. There we would play on the asphalt from very early morning till sundown when we were on summer vacation, and afterschool during school time?it was the happiest time of my life and for the rest to I imagine. This was the time of the NY Cosmos also. Once we became older and got our drivers licenses we looked for any where we could play on grass. The NASL collapsed and we were heart broken because we were all fans of the Cosmos.