The Sprowls Horizon Sports Park is celebrating its grand opening this week following two years of construction | Sprowls Horizon Sports Park

It’s time to lace up the cleats and play ball.

The long-anticipated Sprowls Horizon Sports Park will officially open this weekend, bringing a new premier youth sports campus to Pinellas Park.

The park is named after former Speaker of the Florida House Chris Sprowls for helping secure state funding and advance the vision for the sports park.

Spanning 40 acres at 4015 62nd Avenue North, just off U.S. Highway 19 and Interstate 275, the new complex replaces the former youth center with a state-of-the-art destination designed to accommodate tournaments, competitions, and community events.

The $26.5 million campus features six baseball and softball fields modeled after Florida Major League Baseball spring training venues, a turf soccer field, a central plaza with a new concession stand, a playground, and a rebuilt outdoor hockey rink.

Site plan for the new Sprowls Horizon Sports Park featuring six baseball and softball fields, a turf soccer field, a central plaza with a new concession stand, a playground, and a rebuilt outdoor hockey rink | Sprowls Horizon Sports Park

The park will celebrate its grand opening with a free, two-day community celebration this Saturday and Sunday packed with games, clinics, giveaways, and live entertainment.

The weekend kicks off Saturday at 11 a.m. with speaker remarks and a ribbon cutting, followed by the park opening at noon.

From 12 to 6 p.m., every field will be activated with sports and family-friendly activities.

Kids games, bounce houses, wiffle ball, baseball drills, kickball with cash prizes, and a Tampa Bay Sun soccer clinic will run throughout the day, along with RISE Flag Football competitions and a Pinellas Park T-Birds football combine.

The hockey rink will host a Tampa Bay Lightning ball hockey tournament.

Sunday’s festivities begin at noon with another full slate of field activations through 6 p.m.

The day’s lineup also includes additional soccer clinics, flag football games, a youth football matchup, and a Lightning ball hockey clinic with skills challenges.

The Tampa Bay Lightning donated $100,000 to help rebuild the outdoor hockey rink | Sprowls Horizon Sports Park

The schedule also includes live music performances, comedy sets, and youth home run derbies.

Former Major League Baseball players Doug Waechter, Ervin Santana, Fred McGriff, and Darold Knowles are scheduled for meet-and-greet autograph sessions Sunday afternoon.

The grand opening comes four years after the city first announced plans to transform the underutilized park into a true community asset capable of attracting visitors and families from outside the city.

“The aging facility and basketball courts were piecemealed together over 30 years — there wasn’t a full, cohesive master plan,” Pinellas Park Assistant Community Development Administrator Aaron Petersen previously told St. Pete Rising.

The vision expanded after Governor Ron DeSantis approved $13.5 million in state appropriations for the sports center to serve youth in Pinellas Park and the nearby Lealman community.

the newly-constructed park welcomes its first guests this weekend | Sprowls Horizon Sports Park

The city partnered with Clearwater-based Sports Facilities Companies in 2023 to redevelop the sports park and with local general contractor Park & Eleazer to lead construction, which began in 2024.

Since then, the project has secured additional funding, including a $100,000 donation from the Tampa Bay Lightning to help rebuild the outdoor hockey rink.

In 2025, the Florida Redevelopment Association recognized Pinellas Park for its work on the project, awarding the city the Roy F. Kennedy Award in the Creative Project Funding and Development Partnership category.

In January, the city also received the American Planning Association Sun Coast Award for Best Implementation for the park’s planning and development.

More information about the park and the grand opening is available on Sprowls Horizon Sports Park’s website.