Meet U.S. Steel Community Field GM | The Homepage

Charley Kiss: Sports provide ‘a sense of togetherness that really helps students and kids mature’

Charley Kiss is a McKeesport native and the new general manager of the U.S. Steel Community Field at Hazelwood Green. Photo courtesy of Charley Kiss

By Juliet Martinez, managing editor

The U. S. Steel Community Field at Hazelwood Green was officially completed, named and celebrated with a ribbon-cutting on April 22. Hazelwood Cobras players participated in a clinic with top NFL draft prospects and Special Olympics athletes after the ceremony.

The new multi-sport facility has a full-size athletic field, seating for about 3,000 spectators, a press box and a concession stand. A 10,000-square-foot building on the site was renovated and will house restrooms, lockers, storage and offices. It will be framed by a park with a paved plaza, covered pavilion and green lawn for public gatherings. After opening in August, the field will be the new home of the Hazelwood Cobras football club and the Central Catholic Vikings. Other schools, community groups and residents will also have access to the field.

Charley Kiss of McKeesport is the facility’s new general manager on behalf of The Sports Facilities Companies. The Sports Facilities Companies is a Florida-based athletic facility operations contractor.

Mr. Kiss spoke with The Homepage about his new role on April 16. His answers have been condensed slightly.

You had a 22-year career as an athletics director at McKeesport Area School District. What did you learn there that will inform your work at Hazelwood Green?

I had a really long career in public education. It was very rewarding for me personally and professionally. When I say that, I mean that because I’m from the area where I served. I grew up in McKeesport and you felt a sense of pride and passion that came from that. I was a former three-sport athlete there. So there was a sense of pride, a sense of community, a sense of really waking up every day with a purpose to deliver for the community.

I really feel like this is an extension of that, being a part of this project in this community. Whereas I’m not from the community, it has affiliation to the youth and high school athletics circles around western Pennsylvania, the tristate area and the broader community.

And especially with the Steelers involvement, that is very passionate for me. I’m excited to be able to deliver a professional operating experience for the facility and a venue in the community. And I’m just excited to get started. I’ve been on the job for about six weeks and things are going great.

How do you visualize your relationship with the Hazelwood Cobras and other neighborhood organizations?

The initial meeting with Coach [James] Cole was great; a conversation and developing relationship. I plan to meet with them soon to discuss their season coming up. I just got a copy of their schedule. I plan to discuss some of their ideas and some of their concerns.

I have two young children myself that are in the youth sports circles. So I know what they go through. I know how expensive youth football is and how much the equipment costs. I plan to have a great relationship with them. This field is going to be the home of the Hazelwood Cobras. Make no mistake about it. It’s going to be an awesome opportunity for those kids to play at this facility. And I’m looking forward to dotting all the i’s and crossing the t’s and being a big part of making that happen.

As far as other community outreach, I attended a meet-and-greet in March, and I expect those things to pick up. I expect more traffic on my phone and email, meeting with community members and attending meetings.

Why are community sports facilities like this field important? What makes this field, in particular, important?

This field fills a void in our community, in the city of Pittsburgh, in the Hazelwood community, in the tristate area, the broader community. It fills a void. It capitalizes on a need for the youth, the high schools, the local colleges, the clubs and organizations, the communities, to have a safe space to compete. Some of us that have been involved in athletics our whole life realize the importance that athletics has played in shaping who we are as people. To be able to deliver that and more community offerings to more families is only going to be better for everybody in the community. This field definitely fills a void in that area.

How do you bring concepts like equity and inclusion into your work?

My approach is centered on ensuring this is a welcoming shared space for the entire community. The goal is to create opportunities for youth and residents of all backgrounds to participate, be active and come together in a positive environment. That’s reflected in the variety of sports and programming planned, as well as our partnerships with local organizations. Ultimately, we want this to be a true community asset that supports connection, engagement and opportunity for Hazelwood and the broader Pittsburgh region.

One of the big assets that I take from my time being at McKeesport and being an athlete there in the ’90s and growing up there through the ’80s and the ’90s, I felt very comfortable that there was no color. Nobody saw any color. Nobody saw any reason to segregate preferences.

So, when it comes to youth sports, from my mind, when it comes to utilization and operating this facility, there are no boundaries there. There are no prerequisites or preconceived notions about certain groups and entities and organizations that are not permitted to use the facility.

I see that, maybe, differently than the rest of society; those things are non-factors to me. I really just don’t view it in this space. I don’t view it to be a concern. I don’t view it to be a conflict. I don’t view it to be in a space where it’s going to be exclusive to certain groups and organizations that believe in certain things. I’m just not there. I’m not ever there as a person foremost, but necessarily as the operator of this facility, I’m certainly not going to be there either.

That’s just me. That’s just how I’ve been brought up. That’s just how I’m wired. And I’ll continue that. I don’t see me changing. You know, I’m 46 going on 47. And if I haven’t changed at this point, I don’t think I’m going to.

What does disability access mean to you, and how will you bring that meaning into your work at HG?

There’s the Special Olympics, there’s other region-wide programming for either physically or mentally disabled participants. I’m open to those relationships. I’m open to those partnerships for use, just like I would be with any other.

The facility is ADA accessible, and accessibility was an important part of both the design and future operation of the field. From the outset, the priority has been to create a space that is usable and welcoming for people of all abilities.

The Special Olympics group, along with the Hazelwood Cobras, are going to be the first group of kids to ever take a step on this field on Wednesday [at the NFL Draft Prospect Clinic]. So that’s exciting.

What challenges do you foresee with respect to those collaborations and partnerships?

I’m a problem solver. I don’t necessarily view it as a challenge. I’m sure I may have a different answer for you once we get moving. But as far as challenges are concerned, this role plays in the space that I’ve done for 22 years. How can you judiciously divide field access time to the broader community while keeping a fingerprint on what the Hazelwood community wants and needs? And how do you fit that big puzzle piece together to make sure that everybody who wants to be a part of this facility gets that opportunity?

Somebody may call it a challenge. I just call it part of the job and part of what I’ve been doing for the last 20-some years. So, I take a little bit of that experience into this role, and it definitely plays in that same space.

So many of our interactions are through video games or other kinds of virtual platforms these days. Why do youth sports still matter?

It’s important because of the human interaction element of being a sports participant, the perseverance that you need to display and the skills you develop coming out of being a sports participant. You don’t always succeed, right? In a video game, you could just hit the power button and turn it off. But you know, when you’re competing and you have teammates who are relying on you and you’re dedicated to the team, you’re dedicated to your coaches, there’s a sense of togetherness that really helps students and kids mature. So that human interaction and participation in sports are really paramount in this day and age where everything has gone so virtual. The human element, human interaction and how we communicate with one another, how we develop mutual respect for one another, those kinds of things, are lost in some cases. How this facility plays into that is that it’s obviously going to drive a lot more human interaction for the kids who play sports.