Assiniboine Community College's Cougars' soccer will have a new home field at the Maple Leaf Foods Sports Complex.   ACC and the City of Brandon have reached a partnership agreement that will see the FIFA Field be developed and named Cougars Field until at least 2040. 

Cougars Field will be part of the Maple Leaf Foods Sports Complex, a multi-sport venue located at First Street and Veterans Way on the east side of the city, It will feature a lighted FIFA sized soccer field, eight 11 x 11 soccer fields, a 9 x 9 soccer field, a cricket pitch, a clubhouse with changerooms and washrooms, and 3.6 km of pathways.

ACC will retain naming rights to the FIFA field, have preferred access to field times, signage, access to amenities, and no operating costs as part of the 15-year, $475,000 sponsorship partner agreement.   

“Given the proximity to our North Hill Campus, working in partnership with the community just made sense,” noted Mark Frison, president of Assiniboine. “For the college, this makes best use of scarce resources for capital development and operating costs for our varsity athletic program. Further, it allows the field to be used by the rest of the community and managed by those with expertise in the sport.”  

The college estimated that building a similar field on its own campus land would be well over $1 million in construction, plus additional annual operating and maintenance costs.   The college began the varsity soccer program in 2013.   

Contruction on the new sports complex will be ongoing this year, with completion expected for early 2025.  Efforts to have each facet of the sports complex sponsored continues with more partnership opportunities in the works.

"Partnering is a way for the city to generate alternative funding sources to improve the quality of life for the residents of Brandon and the surrounding area," states Communications Officer for the City of Brandon, Merrilea Metcalf.  

"We are really excited to have this new partnership in place and we're really looking forward to getting everything going as soon as possible," she says. "It's going to be a great source for everyone to take part of and we're really looking forward to seeing it open soon.  There are scarce resources to have a complex like this especially the FIFA soccer field.  We don't have one of those in our area so it's really exciting to be able to have that and have the field coming in the next few years!"

"Sponsorship is a great opportunity to partner with the City of Brandon and promote your business or organization. There are still several sponsorship opportunities available for various fields and amenities," shares Metcalf, "and so we would encourage anyone who is interested in learning more to contact our Parks and Recreation Services department."

Please listen to more with Merrilea Metcalf below!

If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please contact City of Brandon Parks & Recreation Services at parks@brandon.ca or 204-729-2148.