Community use has nearly tripled in less than two years

Less than two years ago, approximately 6,000 people used the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex each week. When two new lighted turf fields opened in December 2024, weekly use jumped almost immediately to approximately 11,000.

Today, nearly 16,000 people use the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex every week.

A Place for Health, Connection and Belonging

The quality of the fields and the family-friendly environment are drawing more children, families, leagues, tournaments and athletes to the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex and creating greater opportunities for physical activity, mental well-being, connection and belonging throughout our community.

Families are at the center of this growth. Every week, thousands of children, parents, grandparents, coaches and athletes come together at the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex. Time on the pitch means hours spent outdoors, watching children play, connecting with friends and neighbors and participating in a healthy, active community.

Seven Days a Week and Still Growing

Less than two years ago, regular field use was concentrated on Thursdays and weekends, with Friday evenings later added as demand grew.

Today, the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex operates seven days a week as we work to meet steadily increasing demand from leagues, teams, tournaments and families. Fields are programmed from approximately 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on weekdays and from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on weekends, with tournament days sometimes beginning as early as 6:00 a.m.

Even with seven-day operations and substantially expanded hours, demand for field space continues to exceed availability.

Expanding Access for Our Community

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, children and women continue to play free of field-use fees on our legacy grass fields, expanding access to high-quality recreation for families throughout our community.

Our reach is growing as well. Teams and participants now travel from throughout the county and the greater Central Coast region, including the Bay Area, while tournaments have brought athletes from across the United States and Canada to Salinas, generating significant economic activity throughout Monterey County.

The Next Chapter Is Already Underway

Eight additional fields are currently under development, creating capacity for thousands more children and families and advancing our mission of cultivating community well-being through recreation, connection and shared experience.

“The growth we are experiencing demonstrates the tremendous demand for these opportunities and the potential ahead,” said John Narigi, President of the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex. “Every new field gives us the opportunity to welcome more people, expand programming and serve more of our community.”

Help Make the New Fields Possible

The Match is making these eight new fields possible, helping the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex create the capacity needed to serve thousands more children, families and community members.

As a nonprofit organization, the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex depends on the generosity of our community to continue expanding access, improving our facilities and creating opportunities for people throughout the region.

Every community donation to The Match is matched dollar for dollar, doubling the impact of each gift and bringing us closer to completing the new fields.

Make your gift to The Match today and help us build the next chapter of the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex.

Donate here today!

The Salinas Regional Soccer Complex is moving through its biggest growth year yet, with eight new fields under construction, The Match campaign underway, weekly use already reaching more than 16,000 guests and players, up from 11,500 just a year ago, and a long-term plan that will make the 68-acre facility the largest of its kind between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

At the center of that growth is a leadership team whose experience fits the scale of the opportunity: John Narigi, President; Jonathan De Anda, General Manager; Edwin Hermosillo, Operations Manager; Simon Dawkins, Director of Soccer; and Mayra Gomez, Director of Business Revenue and Partnerships.

Together, they bring executive leadership, local knowledge, facility operations, professional soccer experience, national sports media expertise, and a shared connection to the community the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex was built to serve.

For Jonathan, Edwin, and Mayra, that connection began on the original fields, during the years when players knew the uneven turf as the “ankle breakers” and parents and coaches sometimes arrived early with lawn mowers to help prepare the fields before games.

Jonathan grew up in Salinas and began playing on these fields as a child, then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Notre Dame de Namur University and a master’s degree in sport management from the University of San Francisco before returning home to build opportunity through sport.

As General Manager, he brings the lived experience of a local player, the professional preparation of a sports management leader, and the community credibility of someone recently recognized as the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce 2025 Young Professional of the Year.

“Growing up here, these fields were part of our lives long before anyone could have imagined what the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex would become,” De Anda said. “Coming back after college and graduate school to help lead this next chapter gives me the chance to serve the community that raised me, stay close to my family, and help create opportunities for young people who deserve a place that reflects their talent, their discipline, and their future.”

Mayra’s story also begins in Salinas, where she graduated from Alisal High School, played soccer, and developed the foundation for a career that would take her into national and international sports media and marketing.

Mayra has worked with FIFA, CONCAF, the San Francisco 49ers, Grupo Orlegi, and Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football en Español, where she became the first Spanish-language sideline reporter for the platform’s NFL coverage.

At the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex, Mayra brings that experience back to the community that shaped her, using the skills of a broadcaster, marketer, storyteller, and partnership builder to elevate the Complex’s visibility and deepen its connection to sponsors, families, young athletes, and women and girls in sports.

“Everything I have experienced in sports has roots in Salinas,” Gomez said. “This community shaped my work ethic, my voice, my love of the game, and my understanding of representation, so being able to bring that experience back to the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex gives me a powerful opportunity to invest in the young people, families, women, and girls who are building their own stories here.”

Edwin Hermosillo’s connection to the Complex also began as a young player on those same community fields, giving his current operations role a personal grounding in the place families experience every day.

As a Monterey County local and Facility & Operations Coordinator, Edwin understands the daily rhythm of the Complex from both sides of the gate, with memories of growing up through the game now informing the field readiness, weather decisions, tournament logistics, safety, parking, schedules, vendors, equipment, and constant coordination required to serve thousands of people in a single week.

His role sits close to the practical details that make a major community facility work, translating long-term growth into organized practice nights, successful tournament weekends, smooth community events, and a welcoming experience for players, coaches, visitors, and partners.

“When families and teams come through the gates, they should feel the pride we have in this place,” Hermosillo said. “My role is to help the fields, events, and daily operations come together in a way that supports the players, coaches, visitors, and partners who use the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex throughout the week.”

Simon Dawkins brings the perspective of someone who has lived the game at the highest levels, with a 20-year professional career that included Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Derby County, the San Jose Earthquakes, Monterey Bay F.C., and the Jamaican National Team.

Soccer brought him to Monterey County through Monterey Bay F.C., and life in the region gave him deep ties to the community through love, family, friendships, and the everyday soccer culture of the Salinas Valley.

As Director of Soccer Programs & Development, Simon brings professional standards into youth development while giving local players access to the discipline, perspective, and mentorship of someone who understands what it takes to move through the sport with focus and resilience.

“Soccer brought me to this region, and the people made it home,” Dawkins said. “There is so much talent and heart in this community, and I want young players here to feel that their dreams can grow from these fields with the right training, the right support, and the belief that their future in the game can be very real.”

John Narigi’s arrival as President brings the team a leader with more than four decades of executive experience in hospitality, major public venues, economic development, operations, guest experience, revenue generation, team development, and community partnership.

After spending much of his career on the Monterey Peninsula, including executive leadership at Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa, and later leading work at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca along Highway 68, John comes to the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex with a countywide perspective and a strong desire to help connect the Peninsula, the Highway 68 corridor, and the Salinas Valley through a project with extraordinary momentum.

“The Salinas Regional Soccer Complex is at a remarkable inflection point,” Narigi said. “The foundation has been built, the community has embraced it, and now the opportunity is to help shape what it becomes over the next decade and beyond. The board’s commitment to that vision is inspiring, and the momentum behind everything happening here made this an opportunity I simply couldn’t pass up. After spending much of my career on the Monterey Peninsula, I have developed a deep appreciation for the Salinas Valley and for the opportunity to help strengthen the connections across our county. Being part of a project that is growing alongside the community it serves, with so much potential still ahead, is both exciting and deeply meaningful.”

The team’s combined experience aligns directly with the needs of the organization at this stage of growth.

John understands how to guide a high-visibility destination with discipline, hospitality, partnerships, and long-term strategy. Jonathan understands the local soccer community from childhood through professional leadership. Edwin understands the operational systems that make a busy facility safe, organized, and welcoming. Simon understands player development from the highest levels of the sport. Mayra understands how to tell the story, build relationships, and represent the community with authenticity and reach.

The Salinas Regional Soccer Complex is expanding fields, programs, tournaments, partnerships, and access at the same time, which requires leadership that can move comfortably between construction meetings, donor conversations, league coordination, youth development, media visibility, community events, and the daily expectations of families who rely on the facility week after week.

From the original fields that helped shape Jonathan, Edwin, and Mayra, to the professional game that brought Simon to Monterey County, to John’s countywide perspective at a defining stage of growth, the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex is being guided by people who understand the facility from different angles and share a clear commitment to what it can become.

We have raised nearly $500,000 from the community to date!

Important message from our General Manager:

What is the Match?

The Match is a $3 million campaign to build eight new soccer fields and complete the infrastructure required to meet growing demand.

Taylor Farms has taken the lead in The Match campaign with a challenge gift of $1.5 million. This leadership commitment launches a community-wide call to action and provides a powerful opportunity for you to double your impact.

Every dollar contributed by the community in 2026 will be matched dollar for dollar, accelerating progress toward completion of the new fields and facilities.

This is an invitation for leaders to stand alongside Taylor Farms and the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex, align their brands with one of the most visible and meaningful projects in the region, and be recognized as partners in a community investment that will serve Salinas Valley families for generations.

Leave A Lasting Mark on Our Community – Double Your Impact with The Match

For 16,000 people each week, the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex is an anchor point for our community. It’s one of the most trusted and heavily utilized gathering places in Monterey County and central to our physical, mental, and social well-being.

Are our goals for the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex expansion ambitious? Definitely.

Can we achieve them? Yes, but only with the help of everyone at every level.

“An investment in the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex is an investment in our community’s future.” – Kurt Gollnick, Board of Directors, President

Thank you to our generous donors who’ve made impactful gifts to support The Match.

Make your donation here today!