Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV soccer to get lush new field

The UNLV soccer programs will have a level playing field next season. It will even be lush and green.

After months of negotiations and scrutiny, the UNLV hierarchy received approval May 12 to use private funds to overhaul the field at Peter Johann Memorial Field.

"When I look at that (new) field," said Ken Johann, a longtime UNLV supporter whose late son's name adorns the pitch, "I hope it looks like a billiard table."

Under former men's coach Barry Barto, the field had been a source of pride. In recent years, especially after Barto was restricted from tending it, it became an embarrassment.

At the Mountain West Conference women's tournament last fall that UNLV hosted and won, fans, players and team officials complained about the sandlot-like condition of the field.

UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick spoke publicly about the new project Tuesday night at a Rebel Athletic Foundation function.

According to Jerry Koloskie, a senior associate athletic director, the new field will cost approximately $300,000, most of which will come out of Johann's private endowment.

Johann said new men's coach Mario Sanchez and second-year women's coach Kat Mertz were giddy upon hearing the news.

"They told me that it's sure going to help recruiting," Johann said. "It's an old field, and it had to be done. It'll be an asset to UNLV, at no cost to the university."

Sanchez said Hamrick and Lisa Kelleher, an associate athletic director, had assured him the field would be upgraded.

"I definitely appreciate the hard work they put into it," Sanchez said. "Kat has proven what she can do. Now it's my responsibility to give the community something to be proud of, which I know we'll do."

Koloskie and former UNLV athletic director Brad Rothermel, a special adviser to Hamrick, were instrumental in moving the project through state and university channels.

Contracts are being finalized, and Koloskie believes the project will begin by June 1.

"Come August, we'll have a new soccer field," Koloskie said. "A lot of thanks to Ken Johann, and there was a lot of cooperation from the university."

Maintenance workers recommended to Koloskie that a simple scraping, or replacing old turf with new sod, wouldn't suffice. The same drainage problems would exist, they said, because of an inadequate irrigation system.

So a face-lift was scrapped for a total overhaul.

Past discussions about UNLV's hotel college using part of the soccer complex for an addition and the possibility of installing an artificial-turf field, both of which were nixed, delayed the process.

"It hasn't been dealt with in more than 20 years," Koloskie said. "There's been an ongoing dialogue between the campus and our folks, to figure out the best solution. Now we know where we need to be."

Tribute to a son

Ken Johann, 81, has a real estate business in Las Vegas, which he has called home for more than 40 years. Johann also has roots in the San Diego area, where he spends most of his summers.

UNLV has had a men's soccer team since 1974, but an on-campus field did not become a priority until Barto was hired as coach before the 1982 season. An impressive community effort resulted in construction of the field.

The following season, Johann's efforts resulted in the pitch being dedicated to his late son Peter. Johann said his endowment includes the annual award of a four-year UNLV scholarship to a local player.

Peter Johann died in 1974, at age 22, in a hang-gliding accident near Carson City.

"He took a new kite off a mountain. I still have that kite," his father said.

"Peter was a great outdoorsman. He took his first solo airplane flight when he was 16 or 17. He scuba dived, surfed and was a great fisherman."

Neusport rolls

The boys' club team Neusport FC 90 Green (Under-16) continued an impressive run when it won its fourth consecutive state championship Sunday at the Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex.

It advances to the West Regional championships June 18-25 in Boise . The national championships will take place in Des Moines, Iowa, July 25-30.

The Neusport squad will participate in the regionals of another tournament in Las Vegas on June 10. It also took part in the recent Torneo Mexicana, beating three teams by a combined 9-0 score, but previous engagements kept it from advancing to the next stage in Guadalajara.

Steve Henderson, the team's 49-year-old coach who is a physician's assistant in internal medicine, thought the loss of a star player before the season would be devastating. That's hardly been the case.

"When they are organized, it's like a machine," he said.

Hats off to the rest of Sunday's state champions:

Boys: (U-11) Las Vegas Premier '95; (U-12) Neusport FC 94 Green; (U-13) Santos Laguna United; (U-15) Cosmos SC.

Girls: (U-11) NFC Tabagators 95 Green; (U-13) Heat FC 93 Orange; (U-14) NFC Tabagators 92 Green; (U-15) NFC Tabagators 91 Green; (U-17) Rebels Select Red; (U-19) NFC Tabagators 87 Green.

Tattoo you

Keep a close eye on English defender Jamie Carragher at the World Cup in Germany this summer.

Mikey Fisher, the Liverpool native who recently put on a skills competition at a local pub en route to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to meet Maradona, knows Carragher well.

Fisher spent time with the Everton reserve team and says Carragher grew up idolizing Everton, the crosstown rival of Liverpool, for which Carragher plays. In fact, Carragher has a tattoo of the Everton logo on his forearm. Thus, he always wears long sleeves.

At the FA Cup finale against West Ham United last Saturday in Cardiff, Wales, Carragher was the lone player on the field wearing long sleeves.

"Hardly anyone knows that," Fisher said. "Only family and a few friends know that."

Fisher also knows Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard, and he has the cell phone number of Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United striker whose status for England in Germany is in doubt because of a broken bone in his left foot.

All-Stars at Liberty

The top graduating soccer players from the Sunrise and Sunset divisions will compete in the 14th Green Valley Rotary Club high school All-Star games at Liberty High on Thursday.

The girls' game will start at 6 p.m., the boys' at 8. Admission is $3 at the gate, and proceeds will benefit the Rotary Club's youth and educational programs. For more information, contact Jim Frey at 458-7493.

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