Bright lights replace headlights at Veterans Park

The City of Shafter held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week to celebrate the grand opening of the new soccer lights at Veterans Park. The event highlighted the park's improvements to its soccer fields.

For a field that used to be completely dark, where players often relied on car headlights, construction lights and generators to practice and play at night, the addition of soccer field lights is truly remarkable and a game-changer, according to the people that use the facility.

Shafter FC youth football club coach Gabriel Becerra shared his enthusiasm: "It's great that we have our own lights now. We can train longer, whereas before we had to start earlier, which made it hard for parents to get here. With the addition of the lights, it's easier for them to get off work and bring their kids to practice. It's beautiful that we can see and have longer sessions. This is going to help develop our players. Longer play time equals better development."

Salvador Huerta, whose 11-year-old son Angel plays on the team, expressed his excitement: "In the past, we had to take November and December off because of the early sunsets. We would have to pause. Now, with the lights, this is incredible for the boys and girls who love playing soccer."

As stated by Councilmember Gustavo Olvera, who has served on the council for two years, this project was long overdue. Recognizing the heavy use of the park by both youth and adults, particularly on the side with the soccer fields, he said, "It creates opportunities for youth leagues to come out, play and have tournaments. To see the project come to fruition like this truly builds community."

Mayor Chad Givens emphasized that soccer is one of the largest athletic groups in the city. "So, when we have various groups trying to use the field, it makes it difficult for scheduling and accommodating. This opens up our ability to schedule activities that can go deeper into the evening hours and give space for other groups to have field time."

The project was funded with grant money, not money from the general fund. Councilmember Pete Espinoza explained that the council asked staff to seek grant funding for lighting around the perimeter walking path of the park, which was constructed around 10 years ago, according to Espinoza. Once that was secured about a year ago, they made plans to add lighting to the soccer fields. Lighting for the football practice fields had been installed six years ago, and the newly built basketball courts had already been completed with lights when the courts were finished six months ago.

"Next, we'll be looking to light up the areas where the canopies are for the picnic tables and the children's playground, which is all dark now. That's where we're looking next. That will complete everything. We'll have lights covering 99% of the park."

The park is heavily used, with a lot of foot traffic and people walking around the perimeter. It sees significant activity for seven months out of the year during football season. The plan is to ensure the entire park is well-lit.

"These are the same lights that are at the high school football field. You turn them on with a switch; they're unlike the old lights where you had to turn them on 30–40 minutes before. You can tell just by looking at them they're first-of-the-line, top-rate. They're first class."