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From The Sacramento Bee, December 20, 1998: A Field of Green Soccer aficionados will tell you there is one disappointing by-product of the soccer boom going on in the Sacramento area. There are limited opportunities to play the sport indoors because of a shortage of facilities. While a number of indoor rinks have been proposed in the past several years, few have gone beyond the wish stage. That's about to change when El Dorado Hills entrepreneurs Matt Semonsen and Robert Mills hold the grand opening of Metro City Soccer Jan. 2. Located in Rancho Cordova within the Sacramento Sports Complex, the 23,000-square-foot arena will feature a 15,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art artificial grass turf that Semonsen calls "indoor nirvana." Produced by the Montreal company Synetennico, Field Turf consists of 50 tons of recycled tire rubber that has been mixed with 12 tons of sand and a mesh of synthetic blades that provide the look and feel of real grass. But unlike outdoor fields, the surface is soft and pliable and almost as smooth as a putting green. "It's a much friendlier surface for the body, especially for adults," said Semonsen, who is a recreational player. Local youth and adult teams can't wait to test the new surface. Semonsen hoped to open with 100 teams. As of mid-December, the arena had registered 125 teams-19 below its maximum capacity- for its inaugural season that will start on Jan. 4. The center will also offer a Little Kickers program from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for children ages 4 to 6. "We are maxed out on our youth leagues and only have a few opening for adults," Semonsen said. "We've had more than 260 team inquiries." Teams are willing to pay top dollar to test the arena's new turf, boards and glass walls. Cost for an eight-game season is $510 for youth teams and $550 for adults if paid 21 days in advance. Teams registering after the early deadline must pay $550 and $600, respectively. Semonsen knows that is a sizable cost for a team, but the turf was an expensive investment at $65,000 and the location, which is just off Highway 50 on Folsom Boulevard, about a half-mile east of Sunrise Boulevard, is the best for any indoor arena in the area. The arena will have four swamp coolers to cool players during the summer and four heating units to keep spectators warm in the winter. Also included are bathrooms with showers, a concession stand, lockers and a small store with soccer supplies and apparel. "There had to be a little bit of a trade-off in cost and the size of the arena because of location," Semonsen said. "We originally looked at a business park in El Dorado Hills. It would have been a lot cheaper, but the location wasn't as ideal as this." One of the biggest complaints about established arenas in the area has been their spotty customer service. With a captive audience who had few other options, owners have been criticized for neglecting turf, providing little or no air conditioning, using inexperienced referees and canceling and rescheduling games with little or no notice. Semonsen and manager Lisa Avila hope to avoid those pitfalls. They have kept each of their various age groups, from under-8s though adults, in eight-team divisions. "It just makes it so much easier for scheduling," Avila said. They will also use the Central California Referees Association to staff their games. Mills, a contractor, and Semonsen, a former bond trader, built most of the arena with their own labor. Both have backgrounds in soccer. Mills is a former Casa Roble High School player and has two children who play in the El Dorado Hills Soccer Club. Semonsen also has two children in the 1,500-member club and served as its coaching coordinator last season, overseeing 238 head and assistant coaches. Semonsen is trying to coax the Sacramento Knights into using the facility to practice. Player-coach Iain Fraser has already examined the turf to see if it would be fast enough to mirror conditions at Arco Arena. Metro City's field dimensions are 180 feet long by 82 feet, 8 inches wide. Semonsen said Arco Arena's indoor arena is approximately 200 feet long by 85 feet wide. Metro City's ceiling is 37 feet high. The turf, which Semonsen said is the only artificial surface to be endorsed by the Federation Internationale de Football Association for World Cup qualifying-matches, has already been installed on an outdoor field at John Kemp Community Park in Folsom- it won't be available to use by the public until about March, according to a city of Folsom Recreation and Parks official- and at an indoor arena in Santa Rosa. The company is installing a $1 million carpet outdoors at the University of Portland, which has nationally ranked men's and women's teams. Metro City Soccer is part of a growing sports complex on Folsom Boulevard that includes Granite Arch Climbing Center and Technique Gymnastics. A Gold's Gym will open adjacent to Metro City. For those interested in checking out the new arena, the grand opening will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Jan. 2. Semonsen and Mills hope to have an exhibition game at 5 p.m. featuring Knights players. The public will be allowed to test the turf. For more information, call 638-4625. 
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