16 hours ago - Sports

"First of its kind" soccer field in East End

Shafaq Patel

Two people in a grassy park: a girl in a navy shirt raises her hand while others watch. In the background there are picnic tables, a fence, and a tall light pole under a cloudy sky. — Sustainability volunteer Elizabeth Carlson explains the upgrades to the park and field, including the heat coating on the benches. Photo: Shafaq Patel/Axios

The FIFA World Cup may be over, but it'll have lasting effects in Houston, including permanent soccer investments in neighborhood parks like Mason Park in the East End.

The big picture: The revamped field and park, funded primarily by Chevron, is a pilot project designed to make neighborhood soccer fields more resilient to heat and flooding while improving the surrounding parks.

"This is supposed to be a model for sustainable soccer pitches, resilient soccer pitches in our community, and this is the first of its kind," Chris Canetti, president of the Houston World Cup Host Committee, said at the unveiling last month. "We intend to duplicate this in other parks across our entire county."

Zoom in: The upgrades include more than 130 new trees for shade, improved drainage that directs stormwater into a local bayou, heat-reducing bench coatings, and new picnic tables and benches.

Between the lines: Organizers say they partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency to create guidelines for sustainable soccer fields. "This is the first time they've applied some of these guidelines to a field," said Elizabeth Carlson, the chair of the host committee's sustainability subcommittee.

Zoom out: Mason Park is one piece of Impact Houston 26, a privately funded World Cup legacy initiative. The program also includes refurbishing 23 neighborhood soccer pitches through the Free Kick Program.

Go deeper: Houston youth soccer eyes World Cup bump

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"First of its kind" soccer field in East End

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