Rio Grande City is launching a new youth soccer league and upgrading Fort Ringgold Park to accommodate it.

Local soccer teams in Rio Grande City travel to McAllen, Mission and Roma for tournaments. The new league will eliminate those trips and make it easier for players to compete closer to home.

"There are simply players that don't have a ride... as a coach, it affects us a lot," Rio Grande City Youth Soccer Coach Raudel Barrera said.

Coaches say the league will help remove barriers for young athletes and grow the sport locally.

"There is a great interest in soccer here. [Coaches] told me they play every weekend in the McAllen area or Brownsville area and I said, ‘why not bring it here?’ Rio Grande City deserves soccer," Rio Grande City Parks and Recreation Director Marco Trevino said.

The city is converting one of the baseball fields at Fort Ringgold Park into a multi-use soccer field. New grass is already being added.

"This field is a baseball field and we are going to use it for both soccer and baseball. The soccer goals are movable in case we have baseball practice, so that we can accommodate any teams out here," Trevino said.

For coaches and families, the wait for a local youth soccer league is over. 

"I'm just excited to have something new here in Rio. I mean, it took a while. It was about time that they did something," Rios FC Soccer Coach Emily Torrez said.

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