Episode 3: An Athlete's View
When I came to Nyhaven to play soccer, I had heard about the city's athletic facilities.
There was ColumbiAir Arena, one of the easiest venues to get to, due to its location in midtown and having its own subway station. As the new rookie in town, I got the chance to ask some of the Huskies basketball players what they thought of their home court. "I've never played anywhere like it," one of them told me. "The atmosphere during games is simply electric, and the neighborhood really adds to the arena's appeal with locals. It's easy to head over to Ebenezer Square after a game for a night on the town, so the stands are always packed."
The three venues at Sporthaven weren't as close to the excitement of central Nyhaven, but they still made for great places to play and watch games. Walking along the waterfront gave me unparalleled views of the skyline!
What really knocked my socks off, however, was the place where I would train and play for the Nyhaven Cruisers - at Puget Island Athletic Park. It was enormous, and with such good transportation connections, I could practically live anywhere in the metro area and be just minutes from work. No wonder the city chose this park as its Simlympic park back in 1980!
The park's Melkovitch Center for Athletic Development was full of young, up-and-coming athletes like me, so it made the perfect place to train. With three different venues, each with a different focus, I could get a full workout in one place.
Right across the street from there was Crown Insurance Park, where I would play all my home games as a midfielder for the Cruisers. The stadium had just reopened after a massive reconstruction program, and it had all the best amenities.
With my interest in playing for Lower Columbia's national soccer team, though, I couldn't help but visit Jean Le Conte Simlympic Stadium, where the kingdom's greatest athletes had won so many medals all those years ago.
I ended up renting an apartment in the park's former Olympic Village, which had been opened to the public as low-cost housing after the Games. It was close to work, and with a station on Saint Mark's Line close by, I could hop on a train and be anywhere I wanted to be in Nyhaven in just minutes.
When I came to Nyhaven, I was skeptical that it was what people claimed it was - the sports capital of Lower Columbia. They couldn't be more right!
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