After Derek Berry moved to Bend with young kids, he did what many parents do and signed them up for youth sports.

But instead of after-school softball practices or the leisurely evening soccer game, he found his 9-year-old headed out at 5 a.m. for hockey practice because that was the only time the league could reserve the rink.

When Berry lamented this struggle with other parents, he realized they were having the same problem.

They also spoke of traveling as far as Medford, Portland or Seattle for their kids’ games. There just weren’t enough sports facilities in Central Oregon to meet the demand.

So Berry decided to mobilize.

A year and a half later, the Central Oregon Sportsplex Alliance represents more than 4,000 athletes from Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties — from youth intramural teams to adaptive sports groups — in a mission to build an indoor/outdoor regional sports facility for local teams.

“The facility would include multiple turf/multi-sport soccer, lacrosse, rugby, baseball and softball fields, indoor multi-use turf fields, indoor training, ice sports development areas and possibly commercial sports retail, hotel and RV park,” according to the alliance’s website.

It would be a welcome addition, said Marney Wolfe, who moved to Bend two years ago from the Portland area.

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“I didn’t expect to come here and have the difficulties to find sports fields for our kids to play on,” said Wolfe, president of the Deschutes County Defenders softball club. “I think it would be convenient if there was a big place centrally located where everyone could go.”

Not the first try at sports complex

Berry wasn’t the first one to have this idea. Ten years ago, there was a similar initiative to build an indoor sports facility in Central Oregon, but that “didn’t get off the ground for a number of reasons,” said Berry. It just wasn’t the right time or the right approach, he said.

But this time, Berry is confident his vision of a regional sports facility will be successful. For one, the demographics of Central Oregon have shifted over the last decade, giving way to populations more accustomed to the amenities of a big city. And even if that weren’t the case, sheer growth has given way to heightened needs.

The Central Oregon Sportsplex Alliance is committed to creating a sports facility for the people who live in Central Oregon, rather than selling the project on the dream of being an economic driver for tourism, Berry said.

“As we look at places like Medford that have invested in their community with a sports facility, it’s not only created this amazing opportunity for their current community and kids to access sports Monday through Friday, it’s also opened the door for the next level of competitive sports on the weekends for these kids in the Rogue Valley area,” Berry said.

Going after the Deschutes expo center

Without a feasibility study, Berry said it’s impossible to determine exactly what kind of fields or facilities would be at the Central Oregon Sportsplex, but his vision is to have it built at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center.

“We are at this perfect apex of timing with the Deschutes County expo center gaining new land, which has triggered a whole new master planning effort of their property up in Redmond,” Berry said.

“We think that the sports facilities can play a role in the development of the new plan (and) we feel like our organization is really positioned to bring the community along to articulate not only our current needs but why to invest in these facilities as a community.”

Berry acknowledges that the expo center might want to do something else with the undeveloped property, and that there are other proposals out there, but the idea of a sports complex at the fairgrounds is gaining traction.

“It’s certainly an exciting opportunity and we’re glad to see that the community is coming together and coalescing behind a need that is out there,” said Geoff Hinds, the expo center’s director.

“And it really helps to inform us and what we might be able to do with the next generation of the Deschutes County Fair and Expo property as we go into the master planning of some of our currently undeveloped, as well as new, property.”

While Hinds said there is no guarantee that sports facilities will be a part of the final master plan, he was confident that if the community stated its needs, there would be a serious discussion about whether or not to include the Central Oregon Sportsplex.

We’re all in this together

So far, the Central Oregon Sportsplex Alliance has gotten positive responses from several local governments and agencies, including Visit Bend, Visit Central Oregon and the city of Redmond.

“We’ve raised about $60,000 towards our $100,000 goal,” Berry said.

“Once we have everybody verbally committed, then we’ll put together a more formal agreement and run the funds either through our organization or hopefully directly with the consulting company (for the feasibility study).”

Berry believes the alliance is just a few months away from reaching its goal for the feasibility study and then only a few months away from its completion. All told, he hopes to have a more comprehensive idea of what the Central Oregon Sportsplex could include and cost by the end of this summer.

“We all know that any indoor sports place or outdoor managed fields in our district … is always appreciated by the community. So the vision on that is wonderful,” said Deschutes County Commissioner Tony DeBone. “But the trick is, with all of our other needs, how would a big capital project like that come around?”