DALTON, Ga. — Through the years, the Dalton and Whitfield County area has become well-known in the Southeast and elsewhere for soccer talent.

Area high schools have won multiple state championships, there is a youth soccer program that sends teams to national tournaments and there is also a thriving college program.

Monday night at a work session of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, community organizers and soccer enthusiasts made a presentation to request dedicated funds for a soccer complex in the county. Funding would come from the next version of the 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). Both county and city officials have said they intend to ask the public to approve a new SPLOST for when the current SPLOST expires on June 30, 2019. Governments must list the projects the money from a SPLOST would pay for.

“We have dreams and you might as well dream big,” said Piet Dossche, president of USFloors and executive vice president of hard surfaces for Shaw Industries. “Even if we get four more fields, that is four more than we currently have.”

Dalton Public Schools board member Pablo Perez presented the group that filled the commissioners’ meeting chamber and included Dalton High School coach Matt Cheaves, Dalton State College coach Kerem Daser, coaches from Northwest Whitfield High School and others.

“What we are looking for more than anything is the county and the city to work together,” said Fernando Paniagua of Paniagua Real Estate. “We can find private and public partnerships through businesses and figure out how to partner with public and private funding. We just have to get the ball rolling in some capacity.”

Schools in Whitfield County have won state titles in five of the past six years. Dalton High junior Omar Hernandez was selected this year as the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state, and youth leagues have produced six state championship teams this year. A local 14-under soccer team advanced to the national semifinals.

But those at the meeting pointed out that players in the area have to share field space with football players in the fall, and there is not one full-sized regulation soccer field in the county — not even the field Dalton State plays on at Lakeshore Park. Organizers said the cost for a regulation turf field is roughly $1 million; grass fields are much less expensive but have maintenance costs.

“Maybe we start with three or four fields and the potential for more,” Paniagua said. “Right now, there is a plan to spread fields across the county, and we would like to find a way to bring it all together.”

Commissioner Roger Crossen, who is a former director of the county’s recreation department, said the recreation community hasn’t done as well as it could have concerning soccer.

“We didn’t get it right the first time around,” Crossen said. “The question is finding the land to use.”

Whitfield County Recreation Department Director Brian Chastain said the demand is certainly there.

“The numbers are unbelievable,” Chastain said, noting that unlike football and baseball, there are a large number of adult leagues for soccer as well. “There is no doubt they (the soccer fields) would be well used. Can it happen? Absolutely. Will it happen? We’ll see.”

Commissioners agreed to study the proposals and said they would be in contact with the organizers.

During a special called meeting before the work session, the commissioners approved a contract with Axon, a provider of law enforcement cameras and services, for $673,600 over five years. The contract provides for body cameras for the sheriff’s office as well as digital storage of all footage.