New all-weather turf and track will benefit teams when games start in January
The start of the high school sports season may not be until January, but the silver lining for Cloverdale High School teams will be a sparkling new field and track awaiting them.
The cancellation of spring sports in March and the delay of the fall high school season has allowed construction crews time to complete the renovations at John Allen Memorial Field, a project that is expected to be finished in about a month.
“I believe the field should be done by the end of August or September, which was the original timeline,” CHS Athletic Director and head football coach Greg Alexander reported. “The field is going to be a huge positive change for our students when we get back on campus.”
The timing for a new all-weather turf field could not have been better since the football and soccer seasons were pushed back four months to coincide with the winter rainy season. In addition, the newly installed synthetic track will be a godsend for early spring track and field workouts and meets.
In past years, the condition of the grass field began to deteriorate with the first rains in October and quickly developed into a quagmire by November.
“All of our teams will be using the field and track for practices and conditioning,” Alexander said. “This provides an all-weather facility that was off-limits to teams in the past because we tried to keep the field from getting torn up. We now have a space that can be used during the day for PE and is available to teams five or six hours after school gets out.”
A new field fuels excitement and anticipation for Eagles’ teams in preparation for the coming season, a welcome result in a year of uncertainty and disappointment.
“The field is absolutely gorgeous,” Alexander noted. “I believe our kids will be excited to be out there, I know I am.”
