Mitchel Athletic Complex was not available fo rthe 1993 concacaf Women’s Championship. (FrontRowSoccer.com Photo)

This story was published in 1993, so some of the stadiums and venues mentioned may have been updated since then.

By Michael Lewis

Soccer Week Editor

It may be a surprise to many people, but there are only a handful of stadiums on Long Island that are adequate for soccer. Each one has its pluses and minuses.

So, what were the other candidates for the concacaf Women’s Championship? Here is the short list:

Mitchel Athletic Complex, Uniondale, N.Y.

Ideally, this would have perfect field for the tournament. The Mitchel Park stadium, site of the 1989 U.S. Youth Soccer national finals, is an excellent facility, even if the field might be a wee bit narrow for international competition. Since then, however, the stadium has been unavailable during the summer — including for the Liberty Cup. For the past two years, the field has been re-seeded during the summer for the Nassau Community College football season in the fall.

Adelphi University, Garden City, N.Y.

Stiles Field, home of the Adelphi men’s and women’s soccer teams, has the width and the length for international matches and adequate seating and press box. However, since there were no lights, night games could not be held.

Park Stadium, Franklin Square, N.Y.

Park Stadium, home of the N.Y. Hota/Bavarians, is generally regarded as the best pitch in the area. But there is seating for maybe 200 fans and there have been complaints in recent years from neighbors. It probably could not handle more than 1,5000 (fans) on three dates.

Hofstra Stadium, Hempstead, N.Y.

Arguably the best facility in the area, with stands on both sides and a press box that can hold at least 50 people. The artificial turf is another story. You don’t insult the world champions and other national teams by playing such an important tournament on turf.

Others

Glen Street Station, located adjacent to the Glen Cove train station in Glen Cove, L.I., has seating for 200-300 and does not have a press box. … C.W. Post has a football field that was used for the state high school championships in 1987, but the soccer team now calls an adjacent field home.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.