News

County poised to become youth sports capital of the region

Kids that play soccer on what are sometimes mocked as cow-pasture conditions will get a new experience on the artificial fields at the Berkeley Mills Park sports complex off Asheville Highway. [COLTRANE HUTCHINS/Hendersonville Lightning]

By KEVYN CARTER LONG, Published: November 6, 2026

Henderson County commissioners faced a choice in October 2022 on how to spend some of the county’s $23 million in American Rescue Plan money.

They could fill a request from non-profit agencies to fund pandemic-related needs in the community, invest $1.5 million in a library branch next to Fletcher Town Hall or start the planning and design of a sportsplex.

Recreation won. With an initial appropriation of $2,032,830, the board sowed the seeds of the Berkeley Park sports complex. Four years later, the vast recreation complex is almost ready to open. Along the way, it’s gotten bigger, more expensive — and better.

Consider:

• With a price tag now at nearly $17 million, the park includes what may be the largest continuous acreage of artificial turf in the U.S. (The total cost was covered by the ARP money, the county property tax and bed tax and private donations.)
• The vast expanse of man-made grass is of the highest quality made today — cooler, softer and safer than anything developed before. “Our kids have been playing in Jackson Park on a grass field,” county Parks & Recreation Director Bruce Gilliam says. With the new GeoCool technology underfoot “these kids are gonna get on a new level with soccer.” The four regulation-size soccer fields are built to FIFA standards, enhancing the chance that the Berkeley sportsplex will draw tournaments from all over.
• The six brand new tennis courts are certified by the U.S. Tennis Association, which granted $200,000 for construction. That means the county facility has a seal of approval for tennis, too. And it means Hendersonville and East Henderson high schools’ tennis squads will not longer have to play matches at Jackson Park.
• The historic Berkeley Mills Stadium, the only sports facility on the grounds when Kimberly Clark donated the parkland for public use, is currently the scene of a massive renovation and should be ready to “play ball!” by 2028.
• The new softball diamond will be home to HHS’s Lady Bearcats team, although other prep squads and leagues of all ages are also welcome to reserve it.

Berkeley Park has lots to offer all in one place, for sure, yet is only the latest shiny new thing that is helping to make Henderson County the youth and family sports capital of the state if not the Southeast.

In three more years, the 20-mile Ecusta Trail from Hendersonville to Brevard will be complete, the Clear Creek greenway extending the Oklawaha Greenway is in the works, a new mountain bike park is under design at Jackson Park and organizations in North Carolina and South Carolina are making plans for the 31½-mile Saluda Grade Trail from Inman, S.C., to Zirconia. In the wings? Advocates are pursuing a steady push for an indoor aquatics center and although that’s a dream that may be years away, so was a major soccer complex and the Ecusta Trail when both started percolating from grassroots 15 years ago.

‘A monumental moment’ for youth soccer

The story of Berkeley Mills Park originates in 1924 when Capt. Ellison Adger Smyth built Balfour Mills and the mill village that surrounded that. In 1948, the mill added the baseball stadium, home to the Berkeley Spinners industrial league team. In 2008, Kimberly Clark, the successor mill owner, donated the parkland, woods and stadium to the city of Hendersonville. The city then dealt the land to the county in a swap for Edwards Park, the patch of property at Five Points the city wanted for its relocated minigolf course.

In October 2022, county commission Chair Bill Lapsley argued for the Fletcher library over a soccer complex. It wasn’t a close call. Commissioner Rebecca McCall pointed out that the county had already committed to a new EMS station in Fletcher, arguing that ARP money should be spread around. Commissioner Daniel Andreotta said, “One of the things I’ve learned here is what a great unifier recreation is.” A major sportsplex has the potential for “serving the most people — the very young, the senior adults and everybody in between.” Lapsley lost in a 4-1 vote.

Two years later, when commissioners authorized a $10 million contract for the sportsplex, Lapsley himself lauded the step forward.

“This is a monumental moment for Henderson County in the development of this site and I hope the public appreciates the effort the staff and this board have gone through to make this happen,” he says.

Development of the site has been marked by a steady march toward quality and durability over expediency. At every turn, commissioners have chosen the best materials, the best lighting, the best architect to guide renovation of historic structures, the best scoreboard partner — Coca-Cola. When discussion turned to restrooms, staffers said they could always tow the county’s portable bathrooms to the site. Everyone knew that wouldn’t do. Now there’s three brick-and-mortar restroom buildings.

The turf atop that impressively large play field is one of the gems of the whole project.

Artificial turf ordinarily gets quite hot because of its black chrome rubber base. No analog materials for the county’s new fields. GeoCool technology makes the surface a lot cooler in direct sunlight than older artificial turf fields.

“That’s hugely important,” says Gilliam, the recreation director. “It’s kind of the fourth generation soccer field. It’s about 12 to 14 degrees cooler, temperature-wise, than all of our turf fields around the county. When you’re walking on it, underneath that turf is like rubber, and it’s a lot softer.”

Our frog-strangler summer downpours can’t turn the turf to mud, and stadium lighting means games can go from sunup to well after dark. The county already has the machines used to change boundary lines for soccer, football, rugby, lacrosse, field hockey and any other field sport can be painted onto the turf. The fields work “if it’s played within a rectangle,” Gilliam quips.

Let there be light

As the fields, tennis courts and softball diamond were taking shape, the county knew that lighting was a critical asset. County Manager John Mitchell sent his top assistant, Christopher Todd, to a meeting of the county Tourism Development Authority to make the pitch. Todd came back to the boss with a $1.6 million commitment.

“That money was critical,” McCall says. “I can’t say enough good about TDA. They see the value in having that park and what it’s going to do for our tourism. That truly gives us a turf field that can be used 24 hours a day and not ruined by little feet or bigger feet.”

Gilliam and McCall have no doubt that the sportsplex will draw interest from youth sports team to adult leagues.

“He was getting calls when it was a concept,” McCall says. “There’s a list of organizations that want to use it,” including the Asheville-Buncombe Youth Soccer Association “where a lot of the Henderson County kids are a part of it.

“Their fields were destroyed during Helene, and I don’t think they’ve been replaced,” she adds. “That’s one organization that’s very interested but I’m sure there will be others. I expect tournament play. I expect huge things happening. The tennis courts were paid for by the U.S. Tennis Association and it’s built to their specifications.”

For soccer, many other ball sports played on a field, tennis, even softball, Hendersonville may be the most attractive west of I-77, or across the state.

“I expect a lot of the high school tournaments to move here because of that, which would be great because that means that our kids don’t have to travel as much or as far. But it could open the door for other opportunities,” McCall says. “So it’s very exciting to think about what could be.”

“We’ve got soccer groups calling us,” Gilliam confirms, “we’ve had interest with lacrosse, we’ve had a lot of interest all across the Western North Carolina. People are calling us and asking us when the fields are going to be ready. Right now I can’t book anything. We’re kind of in a holding pattern, but yeah, we’re excited” and ready to accept reservations.

“Hopefully, we’re going to be able to run some soccer tournaments, put some heads in beds here in Henderson County,” he says. “We’re just excited about the tourism that we can bring here to Henderson County.”

The site has a concession stand and two areas set aside for food trucks. Gilliam’s not waiting by the phone exactly because he knows he can’t take reservations until everything is ready to go. But he knows he’s got the capacity to say yes when those calls come.

“We play two soccer seasons,” he says. “We play two six-week seasons, so that’s 12 weeks. Fifty-two minus 12 is 40 weeks, and you got wintertime in there just a little bit, but there’s going to be a lot of weekends where there’s soccer tournaments and a lot of soccer going on over there, and we’ve got the softball field, we’ve got the baseball field, and we’ve got the tennis courts.”

‘A greenway crossroads’

In February of this year, the TDA commissioned a study to evaluate tourism assets in Henderson County — how the county compares to other destinations, how it excels, what it lacks.

The study graded the county’s sports offering as moderately good, citing a “clear lack of indoor recreation facilities” — specifically, an indoor court facility and a premier aquatic facility. On the other hand, offerings outside such as paddling, hiking and biking ranked high.

“With rich outdoor recreation assets like DuPont State Recreational Forest, the Ecusta Trail and proximity to Pisgah National Forest and Chimney Rock State Park, Henderson County has established a strong outdoor recreation identity,” the study said.

Data from the study found that out of 262,000 visits to Dupont Forest in 2024, 40% came from less than 25 miles and 43% came from more than 100 miles away.

The growing network of trails and greenways stretching across Western North Carolina encourages locals and tourists alike to spend more time outdoors. With the Ecusta and Saluda Grade trails in the works as well as the Oklawaha and Clear Creek greenways, Hendersonville will serve as a central point where all trails connect.

“I really feel like we could become a greenways crossroads and that people are seeking that,” says Katie Breckheimer, who besides being an active leader of the Support Our Swimmers group advocating for aquatics serves as a chair for the Greenway Advocacy. Visitors “want to take a family vacation with their kids, with their bicycles, and they’re looking for big greenway systems.”

The existence of a network of trails, like the Ecusta which “connects so many of our rural communities between Brevard and Hendersonville, helps close that gap from a transportation perspective,” emphasizes Laura Rice, executive director of Friends of Ecusta Trail.

Because the Ecusta is adjacent to and directly runs through so many neighborhoods and communities, it’s accessible and safe. “Whether it’s walking, kids on bikes, roller blades, people with dogs — you see everybody out there, all fitness levels and all ages. It’s great,” she says.

Phase I of the Ecusta Trail was selected by N.C. State University’s Institute for Transportation, Research and Education for an economic impact case study to help project economic impact.

The draft data found that the trail is projected to attract 101,210 annual visits and create a health benefit valued at $8 per active visit. Additionally, 4% of visits to the trail will result in overnight stays, the study forecast. An initial projection that the trail would support 31 jobs is being re-evaluated because the bike-ped path already accounts for 70 jobs at Lennox Station alone — home to Venture Ecusta Bike Rentals, Ecusta Market & Cafe and Trailside Brewing Co.

“There’s some businesses already developing sites in Etowah and people in Brevard looking to develop along the trail,” Rice says. “We’re gonna see a lot of this growth happen, which is really, really cool.”

The 20-mile greenway “has an opportunity to create a new cultural main street,” says Ken Shelton, a retired physician, avid bicyclist and founding member of the Friends of Ecusta Trail. “And in so doing, I’m hoping that we improve the health and the economy of our counties and our cities.” Once the trail is populated with people “we can tell the hidden stories behind why we had a rail line here and why we had the different communities that were connected.”

As the trail matures as a recreation destination, more parks could develop alongside it and homes may become sought after.

“Trails are a catalyst for additional conservation,” Shelton says.

“It’s gonna be an active real estate market along the trail as well.”

‘Where are your pools?’

Helene’s destruction of Patton pool left outdoor swimmers with no options for a second season in a row this past summer.

“In its heyday, it was really the pride and joy of the city,” says Breckheimer, who chairs the Support Our Swimmers steering committee.

The 50-meter pool was built in the 1970s and had served the Hendersonville community up until two years ago. The city has been working for more than a year and a half to decide on a replacement. When design consultants presented plans for a year-round, enclosed facility with a 50-meter competition pool and a 25-yard program/practice pool, the quote reached $62 million. The city council decided instead to move ahead with a 50-meter outdoor pool. It’s still awaiting word from FEMA on how much of the cost federal disaster aid will cover.

Meanwhile, the advocates for an indoor swimming destination power on. SOS was born in response to a needs assessment the Henderson County Recreation Advisory Board commissioned in 2019. “A swimming complex was in the top five needs that had not been addressed,” Breckheimer says.

Breckheimer pulled together people from the community as well as fellow members of the Recreation Advisory Board (which she continues to serve on) to create SOS. “It became really clear that we are underserved in our swimming pool arena,” she says. As they continue to migrate to Henderson County from up north, from Florida or from larger cities, newcomers “come here and say ‘Where are your pools?’”

“Water exercise is so popular now… it’s a sport that people can do from early childhood until late into their eighties and nineties,” she adds.

SOS says a countywide aquatics center is needed not only for adults but for youth and high school programs.

Only Hendersonville and West Henderson high schools have varsity swim teams, and both work out at the Y.

“The Y has a pretty small and overused pool,” Breckheimer says, “and the West Henderson High swim team has 40 kids that only get three lanes to practice. They’re all on top of each other.”

Like soccer and cycling advocates, Breckheimer touts the sports tourism potential of an indoor pool.

“It will help pay for the maintenance of the swimming complex but also, be an economic boost to the whole community,” she says.

A magnet for tourism

When it opens in the coming weeks, Berkeley Mills Park will be the shiniest new thing Hendersonville and Henderson County have to offer, not only for local kids but for families from out of town.

“Being a grandparent, I’ve done my fair share of going to tournaments in other locations and seeing all of the people that come and participate in the local activities other than just what’s happening with the sporting events,” Commissioner McCall says.

Some of those sports tourism visitors may stay for good.

“Interestingly enough, things like that do attract businesses to move here because most businesses want what’s good for their employees,” adds McCall, a retired manufacturing executive. “Having been in a corporate business that did build a corporate headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina, I remember when they were searching for a site And whatever was helpful for their employees, as far as a better way of life, was part of what they were looking for. So it will attract businesses to come here. It will attract visitors.”

Rice, the Friends of the Ecusta Trail director, says recreation assets may be reaching critical mass and powering the economy.

“It’s always wonderful to see when this type of investment and commitment is made by our community and by our leadership to make this sort of thing happen,” she says. “Having that buy-in and commitment from our community leaders just shows a vision for both that and the future — that this is a place that I want to live and keep living.”

Although Rice is an avid biker herself and advocate for the Ecusta Trail, she sees ballfields, bike paths, mountain-biking moguls and other facilities as an appealing buffet of choices.

“One’s not in a vacuum,” offers Rice. “They can support each other and create really good experiences for residents and visitors.”

Gilliam, the parks and rec director, is closer to the control board than anyone when it comes to welcoming kids from Henderson County and beyond to the top-shelf soccer fields, tennis courts and softball diamond.

“We’ve had people in Greenville calling us about tournaments,” he says. “We’ve had some professional soccer organizations reaching out to say, ‘Hey, we’d love to play there.’

“We’re gonna take our Henderson County kids first, then the schools and then everybody else that wants to rent them.”

When it comes to his day job accommodating play of all kinds, Gilliam’s cup runneth over.

“I have been so fortunate. In my last five years with this organization, we have grown tremendously, and I’m just so proud. And you know, this is a destination place — even the playgrounds that we’ve built, the bike park, the Ecusta Trail, Berkeley Park. I’m just proud to be a Henderson County kid and community member, and just proud of the county commissioners.”

Maybe, if they indulge in the county’s rich array of outdoor opportunity, folks will be healthier in head and body.

“It’s super getting people outside and getting them off cell phones and being a part of parks,” Gilliam says. “I think I’ve got the busiest job in the county but it’s also the most rewarding.”