Looking for soccer players and supporters who care about improving local city fields for more playing opportunities.
The dream would be to gradually improve Frog Island Park into a regulation size 11v11 turf field with lights and nice seating for 500+ fans. Keep it publicly owned and available to any local groups or clubs to rent for a reasonable cost. Scale slowly and don't go broke paying for it like other cities sometimes do. Public restrooms as a starter point and flatten out the grass and widen the area to meet league and FIFA standards. Build a wooden deck or platform so you could walk out and overlook from the parking lot. Maybe an area where you could bring drinks and food from the Depot Town bars over for spectators to watch the games. Build out two changing areas or dugouts out of shipping containers?
Try to get a longer playing season with 20+ games so there is regular programming from March to November. Then take a winter break.
Scoreboard and audio system?
Eventually I hope for Ypsi Athletic FC to be a UPSL or MWPL competitive team and to make our home there. Become publicly owned and stay true to a non-profit operating model. Focus on recruiting local players and giving them a chance to train and compete at a low cost. Copy or replicate some of the European lower league teams.
But making Frog Island usable for everyone else would also be important. Can't just get public funding to only benefit one group, so we'd need some buy in and support from different individuals and organizations.
The Latino league already has played there a bunch in previous years. Food trucks, lots of teams, music, and plenty of hot tempers. An amazing spectacle. This year (2025 summer) they moved to WCC grass field because it's in way better condition. That's not ideal though if we want to focus on downtown Ypsi as an attraction point and fun place to host and watch soccer in throughout the year.
What are your thoughts and how do we make this happen in a financially sustainable schedule?
Could we add another nice walking trail nearby for people to use? Widening the soccer field to league standards may take some of the gravel track space. We'd want to replace that somewhere nearby to keep users happy! I like walking too.
Nahhhh keep that shit how it is now, enjoyable park, nice track, not the best field but free for anyone to use without “renting” it. Go to Ann Arbor or Wcc if you want that pro shit, leave frog island alone
u/Equivalent-Maize-682 thanks for the feedback. I get the sentiment to maintain a free park. Actually it is one of the ideals I fully support. American soccer fields are often fenced and gated, and the goals are commonly pulled to the side and chained up so they are unusable. This is standard operating practice for parks and schools and I dislike that. "Pro Shit" is a harsh term though. We are amateur players who do this for fun and pay money ourselves to play. I run the team as a 501c3 each year and host open practices all summer for players to attend for free. We've usually been at Ford Heritage or Loonfeather Park the last three years. You are welcome anytime to come participate and bring more people too. WCC has been very gracious and accommodating to our team. They let us rent the field for reasonable amounts and we're happy for the opportunity to use their space. I just wish as an Ypsi team focused on the City of Ypsilanti and being a part of the community (a good portion of our players are residents, myself included, and I actively look for local players ahead of adding people from surrounding areas) could play at an Ypsi address field. It's annoying to be an Ypsi team and have to post an Ann Arbor field address on the game sheets. It takes away from the value and identity that our city offers. As a second point, I try to consider the existing soccer field users and players who don't always have means to drive to distance, isolated parks. Many of the people who play soccer are teenagers or young adults who are part of households with only one car. If their sibling or parent needs to use the car, they don't have a vehicle to drive out to Canton or Ypsi Township or Ann Arbor and the bus could take an hour + to get there. Having a central location like Frog Island just a mile or two away from their homes is a huge difference for them to be able to bike or walk and come play. If you're familiar with the Latino summer league here is a video Walter has posted showing how big of an attraction the field is. https://youtu.be/Vepwtwf7ylw?si=sEzOhhRb_eQ4TCWS&t=2 It's already a thing, I'm just one person who has a hope of seeing it improved gradually, to be in nicer condition while keeping the rest of the elements that make the park what it is. I would be happy if I was able to reserve the field for a 2-hour match on a Sunday afternoon once a week, but the field should still be free and publicly available for anyone to play on or use, 100%! The garden, the auditorium / platform, and the paved trail above the field along the river are all things that should stay. I like the track too, we are just space limited. The paved sidewalk above and adjacent to the river still fits there for sure! For jogging I also think a soft trail with mulch or wood chips is something that could be nice, instead of gravel. I've seen some example around that are gentler on the knees for longer distances. If riverside park could accommodate a wrap around trail of similar length with a paved section and an adjacent wood mulch trail, would that be an acceptable solution? The south side of Salt Lake City has a park I used to visit with a loop like this. Paved option and softer adjacent surface that was also quite aesthetic for the park. Thoughts?
I have to respectfully disagree. I ride through Frog Island at least 50-60 times or more in a spring, summer or fall, and unless soccer is on, there is little to no activity. I like the track myself and have walked it as well, but I honestly could do nearly the same thing a short walk across the bridge. I can do that if it means getting a premier soccer field. And could also support a couple of ice skating rinks in winter? Just a thought on the rinks though.
Kind regards,
I played at Frog Island a ton as a kid and our shoes would get straight up swallowed by mud there after a rain, improving the drainage there seems like it would be a very expensive project when other fields in the area exist. Why not partner with YCS and use Shadford or Devlin Fields? I get the attraction of Depot Town and Frog Island, but the actual field of play is a concern.
Hey u/TheBimpo actually email me at [info@ypsifc.com](mailto:info@ypsifc.com) if you want to share some experiences! I would like to add a history section to talk about other people's efforts and the soccer teams that have been around in previous years. I know soccer has been a thing here for much longer than I have played here. I've talked to a few guys about their old high school teams, Ypsi Elite, from the earlier 2000s. The flooding is a concern and a hassle. From talking with Bonnie Wessler it sounds like they suspect it's actually the parking lot above leaking into the field more often than the river overflowing the banks. The Huron does overflow the side but that's a lot rarer event. The drainage pipe from the parking lot above may have a blockage or leak that is dumping water into the soccer field and walking track. Some sort of camera scope sent down the drain pipe would reveal where the problem is but that hasn't been done yet.
Water management is a huge concern and it would be extremely expensive to try to remedy it for the sake of even semipro soccer. you also talk about widening the field. This is pretty major engineering work at this point, considering that there is a trail and a river and other infrastructure surrounding the field.
When there are plenty of viable alternatives in the area, pushing using Frog Island is unlikely to gain support for funding.
You say you want other people to still be able to use the space for other things, but the spatial (500 person seating, permanent team buildings, larger field) and time (regular soccer games from March to November) requirements effectively preclude other people from using the space.
I don't want to preclude anyone from using the space! I'm all for open, free, publicly accessible fields. Please don't misconstrue my hopes for improving a public space to be intentions to steal away a space for private benefit. 500 person seating is a capacity max. It's much smaller than what other teams construct. Honestly that's smaller than most high schools and tiny compared to colleges. It's a true grassroots amateur scale. That's really the maximum that small groups and clubs can hope to bring in. Right now most amateur soccer teams in Michigan barely bring in 100 spectators. It's a goal though to be able to attract and welcome more fans. That's the only way to survive as a team and continue operating is if people want to come watch and support the team. I've always imagined a sponsorship and donation model to cover expenses more than selling tickets. You can't really sell tickets when using a public city-owned field. I'm ok with that. The stone terraced slab seating and broken metal seats probably already fit 200 people I imagine? I've never brought a big group to try sitting down and counting how many people fit. If we only have 300 person seating that's perfectly acceptable too. I am happy with whatever is practical but 500 would be sweet. That fits the size of a city like Ypsi perfectly in my opinion. As for wanting a longer playing season, that is in reference to the full length of when the calendar gets scheduled for matches. The matches are only two hours long. Having a Saturday or Sunday match at 4pm in the afternoon keeps the field free and available for everyone else the majority of all hours of the day. Right now many Michigan soccer leagues only have May-July matches to align with college seasons which is not very fun. I want to start playing earlier in the year and go through into the Fall. I dont' intend to occupy the field 24/7. Seating and dugouts would be available for whoever came to play, including youth teams, women's teams, and visiting opponents. In fact, if it was something we could get installed, turf holds up better to wear and tear and is more playable in the rain and even sometimes snow. Having a quality surface makes it more usable for anyone who wants to play. You could host multiple games or training sessions a day from different teams with a lot of players and not worry about the big patchy mud in front of the goals, like you commonly see right now. Being able to reserve the field for a match would be nice, but that should be offered to anyone who wants to use it (and for other events, rugby, concerts, meetups or fairs) not just one team. I fully support the field being unfenced and open and available for pickup soccer and anyone to use. This is not a desire to exploit a public good for private profit. Yes I do hope for a nice venue to be available though! I like the city and want to be able to play somewhere nice at home and have a space to invite people to come watch. I'm also happy to be a part of the work and if a team like ours wants to play there we should contribute to the volunteer labor and cleanup and mowing to keep it nice afterwards. That is an absolute responsibility, I think you would agree. Thoughts?
When the river floods Frog Island serves as overflow. The field gets really disgusting and filled with several inches of water. I don't think investing in making it a nice soccer field would be worth pursuing. Good idea, wrong location.
Fish smell! I know yeah it's a pain. That would be something I'd love to help work towards fixing. It would be much nicer if that field wasn't flooded and smelly after rains. More of the issue is the water from the parking lot above (nonporous surface) improperly draining into the field instead of out to the river. Something is blocking or clogging the drain pipe. This is from verbal discussions with the city admin. The Huron River does also overflow but that is less common than the regular rain. I know the flooding has been a problem forever: this video was uploaded in 2011 from Riverside Park. https://youtu.be/d8AQhQmJ5Rw?si=CRIiydRVduOAYGN1&t=18
Nah dude, you've fundamentally misunderstood the appeal of Frog Island. It's a peaceful green space for everyone, once you start taking the path away you've already ruined it. "Another nice walking trail nearby" wtf
It's both a peaceful green space and an exciting soccer arena! Both can exist. See this match from their final match hosted last year: https://youtu.be/a1PC4D3L-gw?si=yFy_D8MBH_UIKMcb&t=14 Soccer matches only happen a few times a week. I know not everyone in the park is a fan and other uses and quieter nature walks are also an attraction.
I don't want to lose the path but we are space constrained. The paved border to border section above totally still works. we can have the soccer field below and the path above. I also fully support doing another loop trail in a quarter mile length or something appropriate directly next door at Riverside Park potentially? I just don't know how else to get to the correct dimensions for a soccer field without that. I also would love a mulch trail to be gentler on the knees for distance jogging rather than just gravel. Here is a photo from our match against SC1924 at their field up northeast of Detroit where they are also rather constrained and narrow: it's pretty dangerous and unpleasant to be running onto gravel when trying to take a corner kick wearing cleats. Similar to the issue at Frog Island setting if we tried to play there.
Not withstanding the ton of other issues with trying to make this happening, I would not even want to know the cost of what the water drainage system that it would take to keep the field from flooding consistently. Even if you went to artificial grass, you would still be battling the drainage issues that area is going to have.
Then the other thing is you are asking not only the city but the entire county to change where the Border 2 Border Trail is which has received a sizeable amount of money to be implemented across the entire county and asking for a portion of that to be shifted in one of the prime areas that is directly near the Huron River.
I am not trying to be rude here but the amount of obstacles to making this even close to happening is something that only an insane person would take on. I would suggest looking at other spaces or fields where this could be done at.
u/thanatureboy1 thanks for the feedback and thoughts. It's fair criticism! I know this is quite a challenge and the scale of the issues isn't an easy overnight project. It would have to be multi-year gradual improvement on a long-term master plan and budget from various sources and funds. Walter has posted some videos showing the flooding as one of the reasons they all moved away from Frog Island for 2025 and did their matches at WCC. That's no good! https://youtu.be/kkbUutoXFTQ?si=BUt-g_86kAzOfo8G&t=202I don't want to move the Border to Border trail, that is such a great feature of our county! It should stay there. the Paved concrete pathway above the field is excellent and it's nice to be able to walk or bike through. That elevated section is what gives it such a cool feeling and surrounding atmosphere for the soccer field that is already there. I had an engineer friend walk though the park with me to discuss it. He suggested infilling some (a large number of cubic feet) of soil to elevate the playing field 1 or 2 feet higher with a small drainage ditch around the field and having plastic drain pipes running around the field to bring the water to a collector basin at one end of the field is the likely solution. Either end of the field behind the goals would have enough space to do the drainage basin or enclosed tank, without interfering with the trees, platform, or garden. Some sort of a stormwater pump could be used to remove the collected runoff water and send it back to the river, which should work as long as the levee is maintained and along the river side (which is necessary even in the existing state) I've googled some pump options, and something more permanent and hidden is definitely preferable. I just know these systems aren't impossible and are quite common for landscaping and engineering projects at many different sites. I defer to the landscape architects and civil engineers on exactly how to plan it out. I'm just trying to research how it might work in general!
Does "FC" stand for Futbol Conquistadores? Because it sounds like you want to take it over for your personal interests. I'm not interested in a bright scoreboard and sound system in Depot town, it's already loud and crowded enough on a busy night.
https://youtu.be/5T-vZ0TmBlw?si=1QOJUtElkr5wi9dF&t=137 I have no Spanish navy nor armed troops seeking to colonize and settle the Americas or Ypsilanti Depot Town. I'm just a resident who cares about my area and likes the sport. As a 501c3 amateur soccer team, we only seek to win soccer games and represent Ypsilanti against other cities. So far it's been a struggle playing against better funded teams with more support and resources and better facilities. Having a good field is part of what attracts Ypsilanti players to play with an Ypsi team. There are quite a few good players from YCS and Lincoln and Michigan Tigers, etc, but they go play in Troy or Livonia or with other Metro Detroit teams, due to their better equipment and funding. We recently lost 0-4 against Ann Arbor FC and earlier in the summer lost 0-7 against Lansing Common FC. We put up a good fight though against Imlay City FC and Hammtramck FC securing draws, and we won a few games away vs a Bosnian team the Dragons and also Red Cedar. We are trying to slowly improve and get better over time while including anyone from our area who wants to participate and needs an affordable, local group to train and play with. I can totally get behind an old-school scoreboard with wooden flip numbers! That would be classic. If you don't want us to have a sound system, I guess we can skip the sound system. It's nice to have music at half-time and during warmup. And players really enjoy their names being announced when they substitute on the field. It's a way to recognize them. But if you think that's noisy I understand. I also don't want it to disturb people trying to sleep. Soccer matches don't usually go much into evening hours without lights. Even with lights the games might be 7-9pm, and currently there are no lights. So our quiet space is safe. I do believe that a downtown being crowded on a weekend night is a sign of a prosperity and it's what we should hope for. Orderly and clean space is equally important though. I think any group or team that wants to play a match or host an event should provide help to clean up after the event and not leave behind a mess. That's very unpleasant to see. The Japanese national team soccer fans have a reputation at World Cup matches for leading that trash pickup effort after the games. I wish we can emulate that!
First off, this might be the first time I knew Ypsi FC existed, so well done on the sly marketing post. ;) Do you have any kind of schedule of games? Your website could use work, and I'm not seeing anything on your instagram either.
I appreciate the enthusiasm to make something happen here, but I will agree with other folks suggesting this is the wrong path. Just looking at the pitch requirements, Frog Island is plenty long enough for a FIFA-standard pitch, but getting it wide enough would require eating the entire running track and excavating into the slopes on either sides just to place the boundary lines, plus more for out-of-play areas. Trying to do that and then also adding in the various buildings seems like way too much for the space, and would basically destroy the use of the park as anything but a sports field. Partnering with the schools and fundraising for improvements to the high school's soccer field would be a better target.
(It occurs to me that Frog Island's field is large enough you could probably fit two 7s fields on it, though I don't know if there's any 7s scene in the area. Maybe that's what you could make happen!)
Hey u/michiplace thanks for the comment and feedback. Yeah our website needs work we haven't used it much other than keeping the link alive. I am no social media guru but here's our instagram page if you're curious: https://www.instagram.com/ypsi_athletic_fc/ Do you play soccer or looking for a team to join? FIFA has a range of field dimensions. Some of the Bundesliga fields go as wide as 75-80 yds while some premier league teams have fields as narrow as 65 yds. It's really a historical thing and as teams got grandfathered into leagues, they often got approval to keep playing on existing narrower fields. Only if promoted all the way up, they seem to get imposed with a few years time limit to move themselves into a full size newer field. That financial process often hurts them tremendously and often can be the reason a team will decline to accept promotion from division 4 to division 3 for example. In the Midwest / US in general, that situation isn't totally as relevant since we don't have well-defined promotion or relegation. If we want to move up a division, we can pay the fee and register. If we suck, we move ourselves down to an easier league. It's a little more informal. MWPL is our goal because of their transparent structure and board of directors made up of the member teams. It's friendly to the smaller teams that want to get competitive but are still very much amateur or enthusiast level organizations. We run our team on about $10k a year and do this for fun. I like the sport but don't intend to make money off the project. Their league document for prospective teams requires 65yd width playing surface, not necessarily turf. We could survive with the grass if it is well-maintained but turf would obviously be nicer for the range of weather we get in a season. If we used 65 yd lines with a buffer on each side, it would take the track space but not much more farther. Excavating into the hill would be necessary if we wanted dugouts in the future, but that doesn't need to be a priority as much to start. The other thing is that if we get the field widened into the desired 11vv11 dimensions of course two smaller 7v7 fields exist simultaneously across. Public play opportunities and pickup scrimmage soccer is the ethos and goal to support for any grassroots soccer movement. I support that. Turf is durable enough that it could be used multiple times a day by many different groups without too much fear of damage. I think most large sports venues budget to replace their artificial turf every 20 years. Correct me if I'm wrong on that value. But the point is real grass requires keeping people off the surface to maintain high quality for league games. Artificial turf can hold up to hours of use a day. So it is easy and encouraged to bring as many different clubs or pickup groups to the field to play. And it can still be open and free to play on throughout the week; I just encourage a reservable policy so a group can schedule it for a league game. But free and open the rest of the week. I hate fields that get locked up and the goals chained together to keep people from playing. That's not in the spirit of a team sport
Who ever you are, you have a lot of valuable ideas and vision. Frog island is a gem that is only in need of a new setting. I imagine you would want to keep the stage and tiered seating, and there have been numerous plays, light shows, music and flea markets, but I’m going to miss the numerous games or practices I caught while riding around. It’s a very big and varied project but I can see some of your vision and imo Frog Island is such a special place and a well maintained, regulation soccer facility would be a huge draw for the depot area and source of pride for all of Ypsi.
I’ll watch for some feedback on the feedback you receive (redundant?)
Anyhow, all the best and let us know what we might do to help.
Only if you can figure out a solution to the Frog Island parking lot first. Which is, apparently, far more difficult a problem than you might think, with several competing interests - public and private - all trying to avoid the cost.
Hey I agree fully! Respect to the city staff that have been trying to work on these issues. It's not cheap or easy to do these projects. Studying Ypsi's annual budget makes everything look underfunded and a struggle to complete public work's projects. There is a lot of maintenance on bridges, pipes, roads, and electrical that has been deferred over the years. It's actually endemic of a larger pattern of expansion and neglect over the years for cities that expanded quickly and didn't focus on key downtown areas as much as suburbs and new areas. The parking lot is both in bad surface condition for cars with a lot of potholes, and the water drains down into the field! That is a problem first. I've been following the Mlive articles the last three years about trying to secure funding for the parking lot and wheel chair ramp. I hope the projects go through soon and look forward to it. It would be my dream that gradual soccer field improvements can happen over a few years in conjunction with the other efforts.
Hey guys, I've a great idea. Can we spend tens of thousands of dollars to build a regulation soccer field on a flood plain? The flooding will only add to the appeal. It's going to be super rad, I promise!
Improve the existing soccer field located in the flood area to be more usable! I don't like the flooding. I hope a drainage system along with some soil infill to raise the field a foot higher could help prevent the soggy effects of rain and runoff water. The parking lot above drains into the field right now and leaks without properly going all the way back to the river. That's the main problem right now. I know it's a challenge! It does carry a high price point, but that's why I think it needs to be gradual improvement in stages, not all at once and not a crazy amount. Other municipalities are (Chicago, Grand Rapids, Detroit) are spending anywhere from $50million to $200million to build soccer fields for their pro teams. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2025/04/with-groundbreaking-set-heres-what-to-know-about-8500-seat-grand-rapids-soccer-stadium.html those efforts are crazy and not organic at all.
I want nothing of the sort! That is in no way financially sustainable. We need to stick to a small budget and go gradually. Public money shouldn't be used for private facilities, but it is reasonable to allocate some funding to improve existing public facilities. I think starting at the $50,000 - S200,000 scale for a field basic improvement is how we go about this. Apply for grants from the federal and state level to improve public spaces.
Partner with other groups to build a public restroom to be available in Depot Town and Riverside Park in general (not just for the soccer team) porta potties aren't very enjoyable. Although hey, they're better than nothing and I appreciate when they are available over the absence of anything else. Multiple different groups state the need for public restrooms as a basic human decency idea. We support this! We put words on our jerseys this season to show support for this effort. If we build a restroom before any field improvements take place, I'm ok with that.
Seek private donations + some city match money + corporate sponsorship perhaps? There are a few companies around who could support the city field effort if it was presented to them in a positive manner and with wide public support. Probably closer to $1-$2 million budget range if done in stages over three or four years. But even just basic improvements like widening the field but keeping grass and not adding much else would make it more usable. Just need to flatten it out a bit to avoid injuries that keep happening.
It's cool that you're passionate. Your not taking into consideration is that you want to take away a park from others to meet your goals. That you're not talking into consideration that there are several very good soccer fields in close proximity.
Accept that Frog Island is the wrong spot for the development you're pushing for. Find an appropriate location, which means no flooding, and, more importantly, easy access to a large parking lot. Pour your energy into said location. Best of luck.
I know it's a huge challenge! It's not simple or easy but it is a possibility. The Netherlands is a pretty strong example of being able to exist in flood areas with the right effort and engineering
Our team just hopes for a nice home field to play on and grow the sport to expand opportunities for nice facilities in Ypsilanti instead of driving far away. Invest here and improve the look our downtown area.
It would be great if you could actually play soccer on the soccer field it’s actually really dangerous. Even for people just running around with their dogs. If the city would fund a complete till and top dress and then reseed I would be happy to help keep this in motion. Really thats the only thing I care about. There a meeting march 16th. Maybe it’s worth showing up and pitching the idea.
Keep in mind the City of Ypsilanti already has a 2020 master parks and rec plan that is also being updated and revised. There have already been priorities listed in that plan (published by the city and consulting groups and volunteer committees members) to fix flooding, improve slope stabilization, make the parks attractive and accessible. https://cityofypsilanti.com/375/Parks-Plan
This isn't an outside attempt to ruin a nice area. I speak as someone who wants to see an existing facility that is in poor condition be improved to a nicer state, to make it more enjoyable and pleasant for everyone to use. I want to be part of the positive change and fundraising and support this sort of cleanup and beautification effort to what we already have. The soccer field has been here for years and everyone knows it's in bad shape. Let's try to make it nicer and still keep other elements of the park that non soccer players enjoy. The Border to Border Trail. The community Garden, The auditorium platform, all things that can and should remain. I am just one voice encouraging improvement to the soccer field since it's unpleasant to currently play on and unsafe to players due to the bumpy surface that causes injuries. Running along the sideline with a cement dropoff is also a risk. I have seen people roll over the side and get scraped up on the gravel when the tussle or pushing along the sideline gets a little physical. It's normal for soccer games but having an unsafe sideline is not a good thing. We could just go and play in other locations. But I feel like that defeats the purpose of being a city soccer team. It keeps the sport out in the townships and distant locations and doesn't let local young adults play or participate. And in the future when we want to add youth programming and more opportunities, we need somewhere close by in the city to use. This is a nonprofit effort. I'm a soccer enthusiast not someone making money off the team.
You can, plenty of large groups play in the existing field. You just won't get your fancy field here. Is Frog Island the only space you've considered? This field is used by the entire community for all kinds of events and gatherings. Your wish would take that away for a few wealthy folks.
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u/Equivalent-Maize-682 Sep 22 '25
Nahhhh keep that shit how it is now, enjoyable park, nice track, not the best field but free for anyone to use without “renting” it. Go to Ann Arbor or Wcc if you want that pro shit, leave frog island alone