STELLARTON
A decade after it opened, the William M. Sobeys Indoor Sports Complex is still full of activity.
“It pays for itself,” says Gary Matheson, who manages the facility under the direction of the four soccer clubs from three different counties who own it: Northern Nova United, Antigonish Celtics, C.C. Ryders (based in Colchester County) and the Funday Soccer Club, an organization that plays out of Cumberland County.
“Right now, we’ve got soccer and baseball starting up,” says Matheson.
“Football has already started and rugby starts this week.”
Opened in 2007, the building is especially busy during the colder months: in January, the facility will operate an indoor driving range for golfers getting ready for trips down south to warmer climes, or even for those die-hards who want to tinker on their games while the golf courses are blanketed with snow.
Indoor tennis will start soon – the facility had around 16 regulars last winter playing on the four courts that can be set up on the artificial turf – and there is a possibility that there will be regular indoor lacrosse this winter.
As well, amateur cricket players, some of them from Colchester and Antigonish counties, play every Friday night.
“Some weeks we might get 12 players, the next we might get five,” Matheson said.
The building has already won the right to host a national dog show event in 2019, where roughly 200 dog owners will bring their four-legged friends to Pictou County.
“It will bring a lot of people – and a lot of money – to the county,” Matheson pointed out.
For more information about programming, contact the indoor sports complex at 902-752-3793.
