KUNA — A significant youth sports complex could be coming to Kuna — if all goes as planned.
A public meeting to inform and educate residents and locals on the project was held Wednesday at Swan Falls High School. Around 30 people were in attendance, including the city’s Economic & Community Development Specialist Jessica Hall.
In April 2024, the city of Kuna was approached with an idea for a youth sports complex, presented by True Gritt Youth Sports Chairman David McMenomey, who moved to Meridian from Texas nine years ago. True Gritt is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing higher levels of athletic competition to the Treasure Valley.
The proposed complex would have both indoor and outdoor sports accommodations including 14 youth baseball/softball fields, eight full-sized indoor basketball courts, and a family entertainment center. The fields will be turf, which would give them around 10 months of use each year, McMenomey said. Development around the complex could also include two hotels, restaurants and a gas station.
The complex would be the first of its kind in the state and region, McMenomey said, and will be located near the intersection of Meadow View and Meridian roads.
“We’re anticipating from looking at other facilities that are similar size and the amount of tournaments that we’d be able to host, between all of the sports, about a million visitors a year coming into the facility,” McMenomey said.
Kuna’s planning and zoning and economic development teams were excited about the project because it would be an “incredible asset” to the city, Hall said to the Idaho Press. The city council will likely begin looking at the complex plans in July.
The city has donated 20 acres of land for a 114-acre sports complex, McMenomey said. The project will likely cost $120 million with the onus on McMenomey to raise the funds.
Not everyone at the meeting was thrilled about the complex coming to Kuna, a southern Ada County community that has seen large-scale growth and development in recent years.
“My home is directly behind this, and all I want to do is sit outside and read a book, and I don’t feel like I’m going to be able to do that,” Stacey Poiriar said during the meeting. “I feel like I’m not going to be able to sell my house now. I’ve been there for three years, and I don’t feel like this is fair.”
If built, the complex would be in Poiriar’s backyard. She’s concerned about traffic and noise that the complex could bring to her neighborhood.
“Nobody talked to our neighborhood. Nobody talked to anybody, letting us know that something of this magnitude was coming,” she said. “I think it’s a great idea — I just don’t think it should be right in the middle of a housing development.”
Andy Riley, president of the Kuna Youth Softball and Baseball Association, also expressed some concerns. Although he is excited at the prospect of having local fields for Kuna teams to play on, Riley is worried about prices. Sometimes, a developer will say that they’re building something for the local community, but they’re really just in it for the money, Riley said.
“Then all of a sudden it’s pay to play and I don’t want to see that happen,” Riley said.
As long as folks can afford to play there, Riley doesn’t see an issue with the complex and expressed excitement at the idea of Kuna teams winning games on their home turf.
Troy Croghan, chief executive officer at True Gritt Youth Sports, estimated that the facility would bring 100 jobs to Kuna.
“We’re all sports dads,” Croghan said. “We’re not some big corporation that’s trying to come and make a bunch of money on this project, in fact, we’re doing it as a nonprofit.”
Before the complex can begin the construction process, a number of steps need to be taken including a rezoning of the application in a public hearing process; a traffic impact study completed by the Idaho Transportation Department and Ada County Highway District; the submission of a subdivision application and infrastructure plans; installation of infrastructure; a design review application; and building permits.
McMenomey estimated that work could be completed by the end of the year, depending on what sponsorships and funds are collected.
According to Hall, if all goes well the sports complex could be built in two-to-three years. Once construction has started, McMenomey estimates the facility could be built in 18 months — a number he says he’s received from several local construction companies.
“Kuna has a large and growing youth population and this complex would allow for a positive outlet for our local youth, as well as for youth across the Treasure Valley,” Hall said. “The complex would provide a location for family fun, and would be a destination for tournaments; the increase of tourism to Kuna would bring new businesses and strengthen our local economy.”
All of this began for McMenomey in 2023, when he was at a Christian business mastermind event. One of the exercises was to pray and ask where God sees you in 20 years, McMenomey said.
“I reluctantly did, and I heard two words: youth sports,” he said. “That’s when I saw a youth sports complex and I was pretty shocked, because I hadn’t seen anything like that before.”
After doing some digging after the conference, McMenomey said he found similar facilities on the East coast. He then had a sports facilities company do a feasibility study, just to see if the Treasure Valley could support a youth sports facility. The study found that the valley could handle two facilities, he said. That’s when McMenomey began looking for land.
After meeting with several cities, McMenomey found a match with Kuna. He brought it to the city’s economic development team in 2024.
Now, McMenomey is fundraising and looking for big businesses that may be interested in sponsoring the facility and potentially getting naming rights with a sponsorship. Once 50% of the funds are raised — $60 million — McMenomey says he’ll be ready to break ground on the project.
The ultimate goal, McMenomey said, is to create a place for kids to come and play sports, whether it be for tournaments, competition or just fun.
