The North Lowndes Sports Complex is great news for our region and for the Lowndes County economy.

Soccer tournaments alone will pump tens of thousands of dollars into the local economy as teams visiting Lowndes County stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants and shop in our stores.

Director George Page and the Valdosta-Lowndes Parks and Recreation Authority have been forward thinking in park expansions in recent years and now the addition of eight new fields adjacent to North Lowndes Park in Hahira is a move to build upon Lowndes County’s unique position as a youth sports mecca in South Georgia.

In addition, hundreds of players filled the pickleball courts in Valdosta for the first tournament hosted at the new facilities.

Valdosta and Lowndes County will always be known for high school football.

Youth baseball and soccer, adult and youth tennis and now pickleball tournaments simply build upon our sports legacy.

We agree with Page when he said, “The new first-class facilities will help us recruit tournaments to continue to be an economic engine in our community.”

For these reasons, the North Lowndes Sports Complex, essentially an addition to North Lowndes Park in Hahira, appears to be a good use of Lowndes County special purpose local option sales tax funds.

The project was completed in two phases and added eight fields with sports lighting, paved parking, a concession and restroom building and a maintenance building.

Page has said the complex will host soccer, football, lacrosse and field hockey tournaments. In addition, residents can rent out fields when available.

Page said business owners can always tell when there is a tournament in town, adding that the economic jolt is a “win-win” for the community.

As he said, maximizing the use of the first-class facilities to bring visitors to our community who will spend money in our businesses benefits everyone in the long run.

Of course, Lowndes County and Valdosta have other, more basic, infrastructure needs and we strongly encourage city and county leaders to continue to invest in the southside of Valdosta.

But it is not an either/or proposition and we think this investment on the north side should benefit the entire community.