By Moses Leos III

With the touch of the ball at Gregg Clarke Park Saturday, the era of semi-professional sports in Kyle began.

While their plans of playing an official league game against the Dallas Clash didn’t pan out, the Central Texas Lobos opened their home schedule against Zacapa FC.

But for Kyle City Manager Scott Sellers, the kickoff of the Lobos’ inaugural season may just be the beginning for semi-pro sports in the city.

The topic arose in 2014 when the city began making “a concerted emphasis on bringing sports leagues to Kyle” as a way to provide destination activities for residents.

During that time, Sylvia Gallo, who aimed at installing a recreational soccer program, approached the city.

Through Gallo, the city teamed up with the Austin Professional Preparation Academy (APPA) to bring youth soccer to the city. It also led to a soccer tournament in 2014.

The success of APPA drew the attention of vbased out of Austin, which sought to start a new soccer team in the area. Zuzeca teamed up with the city to create the Central Texas Lobos franchise.

Sellers said the city works to try to entice any sports entity that wants to be successful in the city.

“We recognize that all sports represent a draw to the city, provide opportunities to citizens for recreation and gives us an identity we have all been searching for,” Sellers said.

The approach is based on the core value that regardless of the sport or level of funding they bring to the table, the city tries to help, Sellers said.

He said entities that have expressed interest in coming to Kyle have tried to work with them as much as possible, in order to help make the brand successful.

That includes potentially helping with marketing of a new franchise. Sellers said the city is providing in-kind support to the Kyle Stallions, a new American Basketball Association (ABA) franchise, with marketing on the city’s newsletter and on social media. 

“We will do that for all of our sports, because we want every one of them to be successful,” Sellers said. Other avenues include attempting to find playing space for their programs. It also allows for cities to take a look at existing facilities and determine if improvements need to be made.

Earlier this month, the city received a $105,000 quote that extended to upgrading stadium lighting at Gregg Clark Park for the Lobos.

But there are challenges, primarily financial constraints, which may arise when attempting to field sports teams in the area.

While many sports organizations are looking to expand into the Central Texas area, Sellers said many leagues require large financial backing, or a new stadium, to set up.

While the city attempts to look toward the private sector for aid in those endeavors, some sports teams may not be financially viable for Kyle at this time.

“Stadium costs can be in the tens of millions that leagues are asking to finance,” Sellers said. “While we have looked at that for baseball and soccer, building a stadium of that size for a league sport is not financially possible.”

Public interest is also not high for fielding many sports teams, Sellers said. During the last round of quality of life surveys given to residents, funding of recreation teams, venues and activities scored low on the list.

But with the prospect of improving quality of life for residents, and attracting more people, helping semi-pro sports in the city is an idea Kyle is open to, Sellers said.

It could be something the city may continue to push forward in the decades to come.

“As we see priorities shift to recreational opportunities, then we’ll shift financial priorities as well,” Sellers said. “If there are semi-pro or professional sports that can come to Kyle with financial backing to build larger facilties, we’ll work as hard as we can to ensure their long-term viability.”