Atlanta Soccer News: Art, Music and Culture: Dream Parks at LakePoint to host soccer tournaments at a state-of-the-art commercial, retail and mixed-use development.

Ultimate Youth Sports Destination to be Built in the City of Emerson in Bartow County. North Atlanta Soccer Association (NASA) to become tenant of Dream Parks at LakePoint. Dream Parks at LakePoint to host soccer tournaments at a state-of-the-art commercial, retail and mixed-use development. EMERSON, GA (December, 17, 2010) – North Atlanta Soccer Association (NASA) is expanding its operations to Dream Parks at LakePoint. Hundreds of youth of all ages participate in NASA tournaments, and with the move to Dream Parks at LakePoint, NASA is expected to attract more than 3,500 teams to the park. Dream Parks at Lakepoint will be anchored by three major tenants: Perfect Game, Inc., the world's largest and most comprehensive baseball scouting company, NASA (North Atlanta Soccer Association and LB3 Lacrosse. "Of the seven most popular high school sports, soccer has seen the largest increase in the number of programs in the past ten years," said NASA Executive Director Dave Smith. "Soccer is adding nearly 800 programs nationwide in the past 5 years alone, and Dream Parks will help us grow the sport even more." said Smith. Other components of the park include: • 16 tournament Baseball Fields – state-of-the-art fields with the latest high performance sports turf technology • Dream Parks at LakePoint will serve as Sportexe, a division of Shaw Industries "International Showroom" for high performance sports turf • 12 Tournament Soccer/Lacrosse Fields • Year round tournament Play – based on existing tournaments already put on by the 3 anchor tenants • Dream Parks at LakePoint will have Over 1 Million SF of Mixed-Use / Retail with Around 20 Restaurants and Entertainment Venues; drawing some of the top retail tenants to the park. • Dream Parks at LakePoint will also have a 100,000 SF indoor facilities for wrestling, gymnastics, cheerleading and volleyball • Estimated 4,000 hotel keys on-site • Dream Parks at LakePoint will strive to develop an adjacent Research Park for sports related companies and organizations • Dream Parks at LakePoint will have a robust mentoring program for disadvantaged youth • The park will be home to the first "High School World Series" • Dream Parks at LakePoint will have Miracle League fields for those with special needs "This is an exciting project for the City of Emerson, said Al Pallone, Mayor of the City of Emerson. "Even in this dire economy a development like this, which is based on sports which still remains a stronger aspect of our slowing economy will create great economic impact for the citizens of Emerson and all of Bartow County," Pallone said. The privately-funded project, will host baseball, lacrosse and soccer tournaments year-round; with all three anchor tenants consolidating their existing tournaments to this single location. The first pitch, kick and shot are slated for Summer 2012. NASA partners with Dream Parks, great!  But what does this mean to me if I am a NASA member? NASA will have a state of the art facility to host tournaments and camps without having to worry about weather or light issues. Dream Parks will give NASA more state, regional, national, and international exposure. Some of the higher level select and athena teams, as well as other interested NASA teams, will have the opportunity to train at Dream Parks.  This in turn will free up space on our over-crowded parks at Metro and Quest.  The natural grass fields will be healthier with less traffic, and this will also enable us to grow our recreational programs at both Metro and Quest Park. Having access to turf fields with lights will eliminate many cancellations due to weather and field issues. Club fee structure will change slightly for the teams that train and play out of Dream Parks. Teams will have opportunities to play games out of Dream Parks on weekends, as well as playing mid-week make up games. The projected date for first games at Dream Parks is June 2012.