Some of the greenest grass in Tucson can be found inside a warehouse.
OK, so the grass isn't real. But for local soccer players, it's a sight for sore knees.
Maracana Indoor Sports Arena, located in an industrial area on East 18th Street, near Armory Park, opened earlier this month.
The facility has two turf fields, a small locker room and a balcony where fans can watch the action.
Mladen Kozak opened Maracana after he lost his job as a government subcontractor.
"I spoke to a lot of friends who play soccer," Kozak, 33, says. "We desperately needed turf fields."
Indoor soccer moves faster than the outdoor game, with fewer players and a walled field that allows for ricochets and rebounds.
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Previously, the only place to play indoor soccer in the Old Pueblo was the Tucson Indoor Sports Center (formerly Bladeworld), a rink on West Grant Road near Interstate 10 with a plastic floor that also catered to inline hockey.
Two types of turf
Artificial turf is softer, and therefore easier on the joints, than the hard surface at the Tucson Indoor Sports Center.
Also, it provides a true bounce - more reliable than even real grass.
"I love the surface," says Alex Coomer, who played pickup at Maracana on a recent Wednesday evening.
Maracana's two fields feature two types of artificial turf.
The large 148-by-60-foot field is covered in FieldTurf, an artificial surface that's meant to mimic real grass. It's the same stuff the Tampa Bay Rays and Indianapolis Colts play on, with an infill made with a mixture of sand and rubber.
A smaller field, measuring 70 by 45 feet, is covered in AstroTurf, which is more like a carpet.
AstroTurf plays slow. During a recent pickup game, one player commented, "It's like the ball is heavy."
Making a career in soccer makes sense for Kozak, who has been around the sport all his life.
During his childhood, his family found a pitch no matter where they moved. And they moved a lot.
In the early 1990s, Kozak's family fled Bosnia's civil war and headed to Croatia. After less than two years, they moved to Switzerland. In 1998, they came to the U.S.
"Wherever we went, soccer was there," Kozak says.
Play Ball!
League play will begin Monday at Maracana, but registration will continue throughout the month.
Kozak hopes the extended registration period will give University of Arizona students time to discover the new facility.
"Teams that register late might have to play a few double headers to catch up," he says.
Games are 50 minutes and teams play once a week for 10 weeks.
On the large field, six players - including a goalie - will play at a time.
League play on the smaller field, which will be used for 3 v. 3 games, hasn't been scheduled yet.
If you go
What: Maracana Indoor Sports Arena.
Where: 555 E. 18th St.
Hours: Noon-10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Cost: League fees are $60 to $85 per person, depending on how early you register and the type of league you join.
More info: www.maracanaisa.com
Contact reporter Coley Ward at cward@azstarnet.com or 807-8429.
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