Add one more bright star to that growing list of attractions that bring pride to Las Vegas.
It's not as big or as glitzy as the Strip. Nor is it as condensed and exciting as the Fremont Street Experience. But it's big all right, about 110 acres, and it spreads into the eastern edge of Summerlin. It carries the name Charlie Kellogg and Joe Zaher Sports Complex.
Not too many people may recognize it by that name. In fact, not too many people may know who Charlie Kellogg and Joe Zaher were, unless they're into Las Vegas soccer, and particularly youth soccer.
Thanks go to city spokesman Jace Radke. He explained that Charlie Kellogg was the founder of the first youth soccer program in Las Vegas, which began with four teams in 1961. The program now includes more than 1,000 youth soccer teams. Kellogg died in 2001 at the age of 73.
Joe Zaher was one of the greatest soccer players to come out of the program that Kellogg pioneered. He starred at Bishop Gorman High School, then went on to Oregon State University, where he became the PAC-10 soccer freshman of the year, scoring 25 goals. Zaher died in an auto accident in 2002 at the age of 18.
Most people have different names for the sprawling sports complex, which first opened 21/2 years ago. Located along Summerlin Parkway, it is generally referred to as the "tennis center," or the "soccer fields," or the "picnic grounds," or the "playgrounds," or the "walking trails," or even the "dog runs."
In reality, it's all of those things, but more than that, it's a tribute to two men who were deeply dedicated to the sport of soccer -- and to three siblings who were equally dedicated to the sport of tennis.
Only a month ago, more than two dozen major companies, including the Las Vegas Review-Journal, helped sponsor the Tennis Channel Open, which for the third consecutive year, made the Darling Tennis Center the focal point for tennis buffs. Many other tennis fans who did not attend the professional tennis matches watched on their TVs, if they had access to the tennis channel. As a sports facility, the Darling Tennis Center is state-of-the-art, the largest and most modern installation of its kind in Nevada.
But like the Charlie Kellogg and Joe Zaher Sports Complex, the Darling Tennis Center also was dedicated to people who were diehard enthusiasts of the sport. The full name for that corner of the sports complex is the Amanda & Stacy Darling Memorial Tennis Center.
Amanda and Stacy were young sisters. They were killed in an auto accident in 1993. The center court, where the Tennis Channel Open has been played each year, is named in memory of brother Ronald Darling, who died in a motorcycle accident in 2001.
Unfortunately, weather conditions have made it impossible to measure the true popularity of the Tennis Channel Open. The tournament has been played each year in temperatures just not conducive to watching tennis. Cold and wind have made sitting outdoors for any extended period of time uncomfortable, and that has been largely responsible for keeping down the attendance.
For the first two years, the Tennis Channel Open was held during the last week of February. This year, it was moved into the first week of March, in the hope that one week later would bring the kind of warmer weather to fill the stands for every event. No such luck.
Still, tennis and soccer are major activities in Summerlin, especially among the younger set. Regardless of weather conditions, you'll find thousands of kids participating at the sports complex, as well as in other public parks around the city, throughout the year.
It's enough to have made Charlie Kellogg, Joe Zaher and the Darling siblings proud.
Herb Jaffe was an op-ed columnist and investigative reporter for most of his 39 years at The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. He is the author of the novel "Falling Dominoes." Contact him at HJaffe@cox.net.
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