Kevin Cain stood on the second-story observation deck during the opening day celebration for Rosetta Canyon Sports Park on Nov. 4 and took a look around.

“This is phenomenal. It’s beautiful,” the Rosetta Canyon resident said. “I knew it would be a wonderful park. I didn’t expect to have my breath taken away.”
Cain was one of several hundred people who showed up at the city-sponsored event to get a first look at the 21-acre park, which was scheduled to open to the public last weekend. The park features five tournament fields geared toward softball and youth baseball – all with synthetic turf, a rarity for baseball-softball fields in the region.
The ballfields, complete with lights, are arranged in a circle around the observation deck, which is built above the concession stand to allow coaches, scouts and fans to view multiple games.
“I’m a huge baseball fan, so to be able to stand in one spot and see four games going on is wonderful,” Cain said.
In addition, the park has a full-sized football and soccer field with synthetic turf.
Cain was elated to see the facilities appeared to meet Americans with Disability Act standards.
“I have a daughter in a wheelchair, and everything looks accessible,” he said.
Also taking in the view were several Temescal Canyon High School students, including Russell Carrillo, who was more excited about the soccer field.
“I think this is amazing,” said the junior. “So far, I’m impressed. … I like the new football-soccer field with synthetic turf and that we actually have a soccer field now.”
Though the sports facility is new, it was built on an existing park site that was only partially completed. Eight acres of the 22-acre site were constructed as a park, and the rest remained vacant.
“Before, you felt like you were in the middle of nowhere,” said Carrillo’s friend, Steven Rico, also a Temescal Canyon junior. “Now it feels like you’re not in Lake Elsinore. It feels like you’re somewhere else.”
When city officials planned the expansion, they decided to strive for a venue a cut above typical parks with athletic fields.
The $9.7 million park was designed to standards that will attract regional and national tournaments. Already, City Manager Grant Yates said, the city has struck verbal agreements with tournament organizers to stage events.
Much of the inspiration came from the city’s finance director, Jason Simpson, who is heavily involved in the softball community. According to Lakeside High School Athletic Director David Drake, whose daughter plays on a fast-pitch travel team, the design is ideal and similar to state-of-the-art parks in Orange County.
“For me as a travel team parent, this is awesome,” he said. “We don’t have to travel anymore because we have this right here. … For the high school, we are talking about hosting high school tournaments here.”

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