New Rabobank Stadium Opens This Weekend

Public Recreation Unlimited (PRU), a non-profit organization that has been providing recreational facilities for the Sherwood Park area since 1970, is finalizing installments to the new Rabobank Stadium located in the Salinas Sports Complex (175 Maryal Drive, Salinas, 775-3100) and will be holding a Kick Off Weekend beginning on Friday, Sept. 6, hosting youth, high school and professional soccer and football games.

Rabobank Stadium began construction in August 2012. The stadium, situated in a bowl 11 feet below grade, can seat 5,000 spectators and contains an NCAA-approved artificial turf field, a fully operational video scoreboard, a barbecue and concessions area, and a Salinas Valley Hall of Fame space.

Entirely funded by donations from local businesses as well as permit fee waivers by the City of Salinas, Public Recreation Unlimited is finishing payments for the estimated $7.5 million needed to construct the stadium. The Kick Off Weekend is projected to be the last fundraiser scheduled for PRU.

“The community has come together to make this possible,” Warren Wayland, president of Public Recreation Unlimited, says. “It’s an example of what can be done if people work together.”

The stadium will serve as the home field of Palma and North Salinas high schools, who are amongst the teams set to play during the Kick Off Weekend, and will also host four Hartnell College football games throughout the season. In addition to holding home games for local schools, the California Rodeo Association seeks to host high school championship games at Rabobank Stadium. “We have spoken with [the Central Coast Section] and we are hoping that we can get some CCS games here,” stated Amanda Gianolini, Sales Coordinator of the California Rodeo Association.

The neighboring Salinas Boys and Girls Clubs of Monterey County will also use Rabobank Stadium, allowing capacity for the club to increase by 40 percent.

And with the construction of the stadium, the Rodeo Association will continue to lease the land from the City of Salinas for 50 more years, according to Wayland. This also means that the California Rodeo Association will operate and maintain the stadium.

The Kick Off Weekend begins Friday with a tailgate barbecue at the nearby Storm House (185 Maryal Drive), tickets for which are $100 (775-3100). Rabobank Stadium will host football on Saturday with youth games beginning at 10am, followed by high school games with Salinas versus North Salinas at 4:30pm, and Palma versus Carmel at 7pm (tickets can be purchased at Salinas, North Salinas, Carmel and Palma high schools, as well as at the California Rodeo Office, 1034 N. Main. St.) Sunday will conclude the weekend with a soccer match between Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente from Mexico and the winning team from the Salinas Soccer League tournament at 10:30am. Youth soccer teams will play throughout Sunday.

Tickets for Saturday’s youth football games are $7 for adults and $3 for children (ages 2-12), and high school football will cost $15 for adults, $7 for students with ASB, and $3 for children. Entrance into Sunday’s soccer championship is $10 and tickets will be available at the Salinas Soccer League office (10 Sherwood St., Ste. 18) and Salinas Soccer Central (7 Williams Road).