Come Saturday, eight years of planning will be realized when the Beautiful Game finds a new home in Baldwin County.

Baldwin County Recreation Department will open its new five-field soccer and track complex this weekend with a little bit of food, a little bit of fun and a few games as the Old Capital Soccer League celebrates its annual banquet, Recreation Department Director Bill McNair said.

The completion of the complex marks not only a success for the county and the recreation department for having the vision to work with the community to create exceptional facilities, but also the success of the sport in American culture.

“When I first came [to Baldwin] we had a little soccer group of about 20 to 30 people through the recreation department,” McNair said. “None of us knew a lot about the game then. Twenty years ago, soccer was just being introduced to recreation leagues.”

But with the help of volunteers and boosters of the sport, what started as a single team of 30 children, boys and girls aged 7 to 13 competing with teams from other growing soccer communities, has in Baldwin County become a institution involving almost 300 players of different ages, McNair said.

As the interest in the sport grew, recreation department officials recognized the need for additional resources and began planning the complex that will open Saturday.

“We knew we needed more fields 15 years ago when more people started signing up,” McNair said. “The complex has been on the agenda for six years, but they’re probably about 10 years in the making.”

The county raised funds for the new complex using Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax. Through the tax, the community made an investment that will show returns in the county’s use of recreation department facilities to invite tourists to Baldwin for sports tournaments.

“As they say, if you build it, they will come,” McNair said. “After the complex is complete we’ll be able to host soccer tournaments and possibly other sports like football or lacrosse, but for now we’re just concentrating on soccer.”

Saturday’s opening has soccer enthusiasts across the community ready to contribute to the complex and the sport’s success in Middle Georgia.

Stepan Bardizbanian, founder and director of Predator Soccer Camp, has helped to organize voluntary workdays to get community members to pitch in and help the recreation department prepare and maintain the complex as they come online.

“We want to get the kids involved, we want them to have a feeling of ownership for the complex,” he said. “If they have feelings of ownership, they won’t destroy things.”

Bardizbanian helped to organize the second of an on-going effort to bring people out for workdays last Saturday. Volunteers helped put finishing touches on the facilities by removing rocks from the field, weeding, seeding grass and doing other tasks to improve the aesthetic quality of the complex.

“We are going to be the ones using it the most and I think we need to keep it up,” Bardizbanian said. “It is going to be nice and we’re willing to help with anything we can do. If more people are involved in the upkeep, it is an easier job for everybody.”

Another positive aspect of the volunteer workdays is the way it brings league players and their families together and fosters a sense of community.