Ottumwa Schools to Empower Youth Sports With Three New Mini-Pitches in 2024

Ottumwa, Iowa, USA – In cooperation with the U.S. Soccer Foundation, Delta Dental, Kick It Forward, and Musco Lighting, the Ottumwa Community School District will add three more football mini-pitches to the community this summer.

With the installation of Musco Mini-Pitch System™ solutions at Douma Elementary School, James Elementary School, and Pickwick Early Childhood Education Center, the community will now have access to nine mini-pitches, each providing a safer and more enjoyable place for children and families to enjoy the health and team-building benefits of sports.

“The addition of these mini-pitches to our school district has increased community usage of our facilities, brought together our neighbourhoods, and unified the community,” said Ottumwa School District Superintendent Michael McGrory. “We’re grateful for our partners for helping us provide these resources that allow kids and families to get outdoors and stay active.”

Each mini-pitch is equipped for basketball and a faster-paced variant of football called futsal. They come with built-in goals, fencing, lighting, benches, custom surfacing, and are accessibility compliant. Existing mini-pitches are at Wilson, Liberty, Horace Mann, and Eisenhower Elementary Schools, as well as Evans Middle School, which has a double mini-pitch.

“The district has set the gold standard when it comes to investing in their community and students,” said Matt Sahag, founder and president of the nonprofit Kick It Forward. “If you want to search for a football ecosystem, look no further than the Ottumwa School District.”

Ed Foster-Simeon, president and CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, added, “We are thrilled to partner with Musco, Delta Dental, and Kick It Forward to bring three more mini-pitches to Ottumwa. These mini-pitches will provide a safer place for the community to play and gather while also ensuring more children have opportunities to benefit from our game.”

Musco has installed more than 300 mini-pitches in the USA, with a growing footprint in local communities like Ottumwa. The company is collaborating with U.S. Soccer Foundation in the Foundation’s goal of bringing 1000 mini-pitches to the United States by the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“The Ottumwa School District has made great strides in empowering young people and their families with expanded recreation opportunities,” said Eduardo Zamarripa, Musco’s director of youth sports market development. “As an Iowa-based company since our founding in 1976, it gives us special pride to partner with local communities that share a commitment to youth sports equity and access.”

About Musco Lighting

Since 1976, Musco Lighting has led the world in the design and manufacture of sports and large area lighting solutions. The company has pioneered the most innovative systems using metal halide and LED technologies, resulting in an unparalleled ability to control glare and light spill in a way that’s cost effective and energy efficient. Musco has been engineering systems around the LED for nearly a decade, and has designed permanent and temporary solutions for everything from Little League® pitches to Olympic Games. The company has earned awards including an Emmy™ for the quality of its lighting in television broadcasts and a Technical Academy Award for movie lighting. Musco’s global team of experts partner with customers to plan, complete, and maintain a trouble-free solution for their facilities.

For more information on Musco’s innovative lighting solutions, visit: www.musco.com.