BELLEVIEW. Ky. - The family of a teen-age soccer player who died in 1992 wants to make a dream of a Northern Kentucky soccer complex come true in the lush green valley of Middle Creek.
"We've had a dream to provide the best soccer facility in Northern Kentucky, a place where kids can practice and play," Barbara Christian said. "Our son, Scott, wanted to be the best soccer player, and we want to do this in his memory."
Scott Christian was 15 when he collided with another soccer player during a match Oct. 2, 1992. Emergency room doctors at St. Elizabeth Hospital South missed a perforation in his bowel and sent him home. He died from infection 36 hours later.
Despite the loss of their youngest son, Mrs. Christian, her husband, Gary, and their other son, Gordon Grimes, continue to immerse themselves in soccer.
"Soccer had nothing to do with Scotty's death," Mrs. Christian said. "His injury was misdiagnosed, and that's why we lost him." The Christians hope to see work start soon on 21 acres off Middle Creek Road. Their plan calls for seven soccer fields, parking, a playground and picnic area, a shelter and walking trails.
"We're calling it Scotty's Complex," Mrs. Christian said as she gazed from a knoll near her older son's house down into the narrow valley where she hopes to see hundreds of youngsters playing. Helping them with the dream is Cinergy, through a foundation called Community Partners, and the Northern Kentucky Soccer Club. The Christians won $1.4 million in a lawsuit against two doctors in 1995. Part maintains the Scott Christian Memorial Soccer Foundation, which provides college scholarships to soccer players.
After buying the property along Middle Creek, where Mr. Grimes now lives, the family began to plan for the future of the soccer complex. "We had been thinking about this for some time," Mr. Christian said.
"We held several family round table discussions," Mrs. Christian said. "Gordon came up with a series of concepts, and eventually we all agreed on a plan for seven fields."
The family also realized very early in the planning that the complex would probably cost about $500,000.
Mr. Christian discussed the plan with Pat Lense, president of the Northern Kentucky Soccer Club, and Mr. Lense said the club was very interested in being a part of the development.
Cinergy came into the picture through Larry Giancola, a soccer club official and Cinergy employee, and Gary Lynn, also a Cinergy employee and co-chairman of the Community Partners southwest council.
"We started looking for grants, and learned that help was available through the Cinergy Foundation," Mr. Lense said.''I talked to Larry (Giancola) and he said, 'Let's do it.' "
"We plan to move the dirt and perform the initial work in shaping the fields," Mr. Lynn said. "We hope to obtain more help from other businesses and companies. That's what Community Partners is all about."
The next step toward realization of the Christians' dream is a public hearing before the Boone County Planning Commission Sept. 10, where the family is seeking a zone change for the soccer complex.
"We know there are some people in the area who don't like this and have said some negative things about the soccer fields," Mr. Grimes said. "People are always concerned about change. We hope when they know what we really want to do, it won't be a problem.
"We want the complex to be as natural and non-commercial as possible."
Mrs. Christian said she can already imagine all the young soccer players using the fields.
"I can hear their voices," she said. "This reminds me so much of the way the soccer fields are set up in the Netherlands.
"Scotty traveled to Europe the year before he died and he was scouted by the Dutch National soccer team. He played on fields that look just like what we want to do here."
