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Jack Reinseth

Lay out of the big field. This will help the players play to the best of their abilities. Yeary said “I think the turf makes a positive impact on the players. In my opinion it's a lot better than grass because it's easier to maintain, it's nicer to play on, and when it rains it's not muddy the next day, which no player likes to play in.”

With all the construction this year, there are many new things being added and renovated at the school.  One of the new additions is the turf fields.

The school decided to get rid of the traditional grass fields and add four new state-of-the-art turf fields. The turf is a very important addition to the school; it gives students the ability to practice no matter the weather and condition.

Turf fields are made of artificial grass with rubber beads and sand. Advantages of turf are that it lasts longer and after it rains, and unlike the traditional grass fields, it does not get muddy, which means no cancellations due to unfit weather.

Sophomore Cooper Yeary said, “The turf is very important to the high school. Not only for athletes, but also for other students as well. All of the athletes I’ve talked to love the turf. Even some of my buddies who don’t necessarily play sports on the turf love going to the high school to play football. It is an amazing addition to the school and I think it benefits the school in many ways.”

The turf is already starting to benefit athletes’ daily lives. It’s proving that this big expense will be worth it in the end. To get this turf though, it was hard.  The school had to push to get it. One the driving forces behind the push was athletic director Ricky Michel.

Michael said of the new turf, “I think in this community you want to use you facilities to the maximum, and with lacrosse, football and soccer the grass never had the ability to regenerate. So the grass continually got thinner, the fields got harder to play on. So we looked at the surrounding communities and saw that a lot of them had turf fields getting the maximum out of having their youth programs, their high school programs, their adult programs able to use these facilities… so it’s been wonderful.”  Michael believes that the turf was a great addition to the school and will pay itself off in the long run.

The consensus around sports is that the addition of the turf was a must have, but what do non-athletes or athletes that don’t use the turf for sports think about it?

Junior Cole Fernandez said, “The addition of the turf is great, I love it. My friends and I use the turf every weekend to play some backyard football. We always know that it is a great source that always has great conditions at our disposal. With the turf, it allows me and the guys just to go have some fun.”

Around the school, people believe that the addition of the turf is a match made in Heaven. Yeary summarized, “All the athletes I’ve talked to love the turf. Even some of my buddies who don’t necessarily play sports on turf or grass love going to the high school to play football on the turf. The turf is an amazing addition to the school and I think it benefits the school in many ways.”