If you like soccer and don’t know about Fieldhouse Sports in Bow, then you’re definitely missing out.
With three indoor fields and a multipurpose court all contained in a 65,000-square-foot facility, Fieldhouse is one of the premiere places for indoor soccer in the state. Just walk in there one evening or – if you dare – on the weekend and you’ll see what we’re talking about.
The games are fast-paced and much different than what you’d see on a local outdoor pitch. That’s because the indoor playing field will remind you more of a hockey rink than an area used for playing soccer. The boards and glass are in play so there’s a different strategy involved and the only time you get a free kick is when it gets high enough to hit the netting – or if someone commits a foul. And for those of you who like to see those flippy throw ins, sorry, you won’t see them here.
“It’s a lot quicker, a lot more exciting,” said CJ Jensen, one of Fieldhouse’s managers.
Fieldhouse is just getting its first winter session going and it has something for just about any soccer enthusiast.
Over the course of 19 years, Fieldhouse has put together a schedule that can be quite hectic for the people who run it, but a great time for the players taking part. On weekdays, games typically run from 4 to 11 p.m. and on the weekends, those hours extend a bit, like from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. That’s just what happens when you have leagues starting with the U6 age group all the way up to adult co-ed, consisting of anywhere from 350 to 400 teams.
“Most of what we do is league play,” Jensen said.
So when we say they’ve got something for everyone, we actually mean it.
The winter is by far the busiest time at Fieldhouse. With outdoor teams finishing up their seasons and the weather getting a little colder each day, squads want a place to keep playing. That’s why they’ve turned to Fieldhouse for almost two decades.
The winter is split into two sessions. The first league began Friday and the rest will get going over the next week or so. Teams play a 12-game schedule over a 12-week span between now and early January and then it all starts over for winter session two, which runs from January to April. Leagues run all year round at Fieldhouse, but winter is really when the bulk of the teams play.
Some of the leagues are more competitive while others are merely for fun. It all depends on what you and your soccer crew are looking for.
Each game is a one hour running clock with two, 26-minute halves and a short time built in for the half. There’s no standing at half field waiting for a stop in play for substitutions; it’s more like hockey when subs enter on the fly.
The U6 and U8 leagues are coed, while the U10, U12, U14, U16 and U19 high school all boys and girls divisions. There’s also middle and high school coed divisions.
One of the more competitive leagues is the men’s select 18-plus, while there’s groupings for men 30-plus, women 30-plus and adult coed. They also have clinics for the little kids just starting out.
“There’s multiple playing options for each group,” Jensen said.
While winter is by far the busiest time for leagues, especially on the younger side, the adult leagues are pretty popular on a year-round basis.
“Depending on the season, we have anywhere from 30 to 60 adult co-ed teams,” Jensen said. “Fifty weeks out of the year, there’s leagues going on here.”
If you don’t have a group of soccer loving fanatics to sign up with, that’s perfectly fine. Individual signups will be placed with other individuals or with a team who needs an extra player. And just so you know, they’ll take signups after the season starts.
Fieldhouse is not just for soccer though. They’ve had lacrosse and field hockey teams use it during the off months, but as you can tell, soccer is its bread and butter.
“We have people who started playing here when we opened in 1997,” Jensen said.
The facility opened in 1997 with one turf field and the multi-purpose court. It expended with the addition of another field in 1999 and the third field came in 2001.
“It’s as close as you can get to real grass without being real grass,” Jensen said. “Its easier on the knees, easier on the body.”
For more info, visit fieldhousesports.com, but for signups and questions, call 226-4646.