Anyone who swears Key West is a “baseball town” hasn’t met the players, coaches and parents involved in the island’s youth soccer programs.
The group started lobbying hard for a regulation-sized soccer field at Truman Waterfront more than 16 years ago when plans for the park were still coming together.
They’ll see the fruits of their labor and lobbying and efforts next month, when the Matthew Gilleran Recreational Field — named in memory of a young soccer player who died in 2013 at the age of 14 — opens at the waterfront. Matthew’s father, Jim Gilleran, led a tour of the new facility for city commissioners Greg Davila, Clayton Lopez and Jimmy Weekley on Oct. 15.
Former Key West Mayor Craig Cates sponsored a resolution in 2018 ensuring that the name Matthew Gilleran Field would be transferred from the temporary field at Truman Waterfront to the new one.
Only in Key West is a “temporary” soccer field used for 16 years. Nevertheless, crews are just putting the finishing touches on the brand new, high-performance Matthew Gilleran Recreational Field.
“It’s gorgeous,” Jim Gilleran said. “And it’s built to FIFA regulations and will never be used as a parking lot for concerts and other events. It can’t be. That would tear up the turf and cost thousands of dollars to replace.”
An official ribbon-cutting is being planned for next month.
