Soccer lovers scored some park improvements for their sport in Bayside on Tuesday.
Community leaders broke ground on a $1.6 million reconstruction of the Little Bay Park soccer fields.
The new fields are slated to have increased drainage and a walking path around the perimeter of the fields.
A new accessible drinking fountain is also scheduled to be installed, as well as trees to absorb storm water off the site.
The fields are currently used by local soccer leagues, members of which have called for the renovation for the past few years.
"Where we grew up, it was baseball, hockey, football, basketball," said City Council Member Paul Vallone of Queens. "Now a lot of the kids like soccer, so you have to take that understanding of where the passion. Now soccer is a very big part of that."
"We had to put nets up every year," said Luigi Cirigliano, the St. Luke's Athletic Association's vice president. "Even the grounds to sit for the parents to watch the game, it wasn't safe, but now once they do the parks, it would be a great place to watch some games."
The reconstruction is expected to be completed by April 2017.