In wake of the destruction of the old FHN building, an empty field was left in its place. This has left many to question what administration may use this new space for. Whether it’s the varying array of teams that would potentially thrive on having more dedicated space for their sport or club, many have been left in the dark on what exactly will be done with this new plentiful area.
“It will be super useful when we have multiple sports that aren’t just using one field, like soccer and football in the fall can both practice after school instead of having to do one in the morning or later on,” soccer coach Tara Beveridge said.
Though the issue of overlapping practices with not enough space had been addressed largely with the construction of the new football field last year, it brought forth a new issue. Many overlapping spring and fall sports have had to practice together on the football field, creating inconvenient practice hours.
“The plan is for them to be ready by spring of next year, and Mr. Weiskopf has been good about communicating those things,” Assistant Activities Director and soccer coach Matthew Havermale said.
It is important that families and individuals are kept in the loop about happenings regarding these sorts of developments. This field movement can result in many changes in transportation and scheduling for those who are involved with or are in charge of someone who is involved with these activities. It’s also important that people are not just kept updated however, but also that those impacted have input on these changes.
“…We’re going to have to make a document to reserve the space just like we do for the gym’s during practice,” Beveridge said.
Coaches are not yet being afforded a say on the topic, given the fact that the field is relatively early in development. It is likely that discussions regarding the space will be taking place closer to the finished construction, regarding which sports or groups will be taking the space or when they will be using it. Between soccer, football, baseball, lacrosse, band and etc. It’s a lot to decide as it is currently undecided how much will be cleared in total.
Havermale had this to say about whether or not they had reached out to coaches or families;
“Since we aren’t ready to use them yet I don’t think so, we know that band is going to have their own space, football and soccer are also gonna have their own space… once we have a definitive date we will sit down and kind of work out, you know who’s using which field and when.”
For most, the benefits of these new fields are no doubt greatly significant. For those who are a part of any of the sports or after school activities that require everyone to exist together efficiently down in one field, it is limiting for the range of activities that these students can partake in to hone themselves and focus on their sport.
“We’ve been practicing later in the evenings so the impact will be huge, once we get the fields, we simply won’t have to do that anymore, everyone can practice right after school, I think overall everything will just be greatly streamlined,” Havermale said.
