HC gets long awaited football field

As any athlete knows, HC has been in need of a new football field for years. The past year was especially troubling as holes plagued the turf. These holes could potentially have caused players to slip and fall increasing the possibility for injury. Over the summer, a new field was installed to address many of these issues and improve the overall quality of the field. One of the upgrades to the field is the new materials added.

“We now have sand and rubber [in the field],” HC football coach Demetrius Gay said, “which makes it a lot softer.”

Certain facets of the previous field have raised safety concerns, concerns which were addressed with the updated playing field. 

“We had some holes in the field,” Gay said. “It’s a lot safer now. Last year we had to stop a football game to fill in the holes with sand.”

The HC football team had been practicing without a turf when they received news of the turf’s completion. Without a turf, hot summer practices can become miserable.

“[The team] was excited,” Gay said. “A lot of them are not used to practicing on the grass, so once that opened there was love from them.”

HC soccer coach Jason Behler also reaped the benefits of a new and improved turf.

“[The field] is a little bit smoother,” Behler said, “and has a little bit more give to it. When you were running around on the [old field,] every day there were definitely issues with it.”

The soccer team even had to alter their regular practices during the field’s construction, going to the Lafayette field on certain days and practicing on the front field.

“A little bit of change of pace and a little bit of adversity is not a bad thing to have to go through,” Behler said. “In the long run it didn’t impact our guys in a negative way at all.”

In addition to the increase in safety and durability, the field also has a newer look, with alternating colors every 10 yards. These improvements should be pleasing to fans and athletes alike for many years to come.