Soccer players and other field-sport athletes in northwest Calgary have gained access to a newly completed facility, Rocky Ridge Athletic Park, which opened with two artificial turf fields built for multiple uses.
The $26-million project sits beside Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge, at 9700 Country Hills Blvd. N.W. Amenities include washrooms, parking spaces, seating for spectators and lighting that lets games and practices run later and more often throughout the season.
City council first signed off on the project in 2021 under its Capital Investment Strategy. Crews began construction in September 2024, finishing the job in 2026.
The addition pushes Calgary's total of City-operated athletic parks to 15, which together offer 31 soccer fields across the city. Officials say the expanded capacity will help meet rising demand for field bookings and give crews more room to rest and restore natural grass pitches elsewhere in the system.
Mayor Jeromy Farkas linked the project to the city's broader growth, saying recreation spaces foster healthy communities and connections through sport, and describing the park as an investment both in the expanding northwest and in the public recreation network Calgary will need in years ahead.
Bernie Morton, who leads the Calgary Minor Soccer Association, said quality fields give young players room to grow their abilities and confidence through team sport, adding that the new fields would help address strong demand for soccer space while giving kids more chances to practice and compete.
Rocky Ridge Athletic Park forms one piece of the broader Rocky Ridge Athletic Complex, where designers are also working on plans for a fieldhouse. Whether that building gets constructed hinges on funding decisions expected during the city's 2027-30 Service Plans and Budgets process, since it has been designated a Wave 1 priority under GamePLAN, Calgary's 25-year recreation strategy.
That strategy, paired with a service benchmark called Making Waves that council approved in 2025, aims to eventually raise bookable hours at the city's fieldhouses and athletic parks to two and a half times current levels. Groups wishing to use the new Rocky Ridge fields can arrange bookings through the City's existing reservation process.