Best Players
Liberty Sports Park Leaders Give A Nod To The Architects But Look Firmly To The Future
Gov. Wes Moore And County Executive Angela Alsobrooks Attend Awards Reception
By Raoul Dennis // PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMIR STOUDAMIRE
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At a time when the nation is contending with gun violence and mass shootings and the DMV works to deescalate rampant car jackings, Maryland Governor Wes Moore was among many who were overjoyed to join a moment aimed at providing a game changing new outdoor sports facility and honoring those who made it possible.
“I’m not missing this because I have to smile. I’m not missing this because I want to celebrate a community that is focused on making sure that all of our children get the opportunity that they deserve. I had to be here today,” said the governor June 12 just a day after a mass shooting in Annapolis. “I needed to be a part of this right now.” [Click the audio bar “entitled” to hear the governor’s full remarks.]
Liberty Sports Park, a 50-acre facility in Upper Marlboro, MD, hosting 10 state of the art fields of competition—six turf fields and four natural grass—will create over 500 jobs and attract some $50 million to the county in years to come. Equally important, the venue will provide a northeastern sports & entertainment destination that will become home base to thousands of young athletes in a county that has produced champion professional athletes in every major sport America showcases. [See “Fields Of Future Dreams,” Prince George’s Suite Magazine, Fall/Holiday edition, Page 34. Click here for print. Click here for digital.]
For many in the student and youth sports industry, Liberty is being touted as a location that will shift magnetic north to Prince George’s County with regard to destination sports platforms.
“I say thank you for sending a very important signal to all our young people that Prince George’s County is not only a place where you can live and sleep but it’s also a place where you can develop as a human,” Alsobrooks said. “It’s where you can develop athletically, intellectually, and morally. And this is also a place of a great project for the economic growth of our economy.”
[Click the audio bar “County Executive Alsobrooks Discusses Liberty Sports Park” to hear the county executive’s full remarks.]
Packed to capacity at Bowie’s BlackCow restaurant and bar, the “Field Of Dreams” reception included VIPs from across the county and the state.
Liberty Sports Park’s board awarded The Green Branch Foundation Partner Jeff Flaig (posthumously) and former Maryland State Senator Douglas J.J. Peters. Liberty was originally envisioned by Peters in 2014. He took financial steps and drove the vision through to completion and opening day in 2022. Flaig, a lifelong sports enthusiast and coach, became a hands-on, driving force for Liberty when he came on board. The project became Flaig’s own Sistine Chapel, as he had a direct hand in daily operations necessary to build the $18 million park. Flaig died just a week before the park’s opening (See “The Flaig Effect,” Prince George’s Suite Magazine, Fall/Holiday edition, Page 42).
Liberty Sports Park’s board chair Tom Graham announced what will become a Hall of Fame space at the park, sharing with guests the news that Flaig and Peters will be the first inductees to the Hall when it is completed.
