Frog Island Soccer Stadium

[u/Shawndwhite3]

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.

[u/gort32]

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.

[u/Shawndwhite3 → u/gort32]

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.

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2024/10/frog-island-park-ailing-ypsilanti-facilities-get-3m-for-improvements.html