Golf tournament will raise money for soccer field at Edsall Park pool

The back lot at the Edsall Park Swim Club.

The community is invited to a golf tournament to raise money to transform an unused lot at the Edsall Park Swim Club into a soccer field for the Villarreal Virginia Academy (VIVA).

The VIVA Open, a four-player golf scramble, is Aug. 30, 11 a.m.-8 p.m., at the Potomac Shores Golf Club in Dumfries.

The vision for the soccer field.

Chris McDermitt, the organizer of the field project for the VIVA soccer club, is also the director of recreation for the Edsall pool, located in the Springfield area of Mason District. (VIVA was formerly known as  Annandale United.)

McDermitt hopes to have 32 four-person teams sign up for the golf tournament. The event includes  lunch, a dinner reception, contests, a raffle, and an auction featuring soccer jerseys autographed by soccer pros among other prizes. Golf teams can register online.

He hopes the event, along with sponsorships, will raise $50,000 toward the $100,000 estimated cost of developing a 40 by 80-foot soccer field with artificial turf. A field of that size could be used for games with players up to age 12 and as a practice field for all age levels.

He needs to raise half the cost of the project in order to apply for grants from U.S. Soccer and the Fairfax County Park Authority.

“A soccer field would be a major catalyst for the pool,” McDermitt says. The Edsall Park Swim Club has been struggling to attract new members, and the swim team, already in the bottom division, is barely able to field enough youths to compete.