With the construction of the new school and the continuation of the updates it undergoes, athletes proceed to wonder how the turf time seems to disappear.  There has been much argumentation between student athletes as to the supposed unfair distribution of time on the turf between the teams.  However, as the new school has only been in operation for a year and the staff is still working out the quirks of this, students and coaches of the different sports teams express their views on the matter with The Breeze.

Adam Morhy, a sophomore and member of the boys JV soccer team, does not think the division of the turf time between the sports teams is fair because “the kids who play soccer hardly ever get to use the turf.”  As of right now, the boys soccer team plays “at North Elementary and it has a lot of bumps and holes in the field so the ball bounces everywhere and people get hurt on it.”  When asked how often the boys soccer team gets the chance to play on the turf, Morhy gave a startling answer: “Varsity gets to play on it every couple of Fridays while JV has only used it two times for practice throughout the whole season.  Varsity has three or four games on the turf while JV only has two games on it”.  Corrin Courville is a senior this year and a member of the girls Varsity soccer team.  “In soccer, the way a field is designed dictates the way a game is to be played.  We are a team that likes to put through balls on the ground and make intricate passes in the midfield–tactics that we aren’t able to utilize because of our current field, North Elementary.”  Courville explains that the field at North Elementary “primarily consists of dirt with grass patches here and there, as well as ditches, holes, and miscellaneous bumps everywhere”.  Not only has it become a question of distribution of turf time, but a question of the safety of the fields that the school’s soccer teams are forced to use while the new ones continue to undergo construction.  “I am hopeful,” says Courville, “that with the construction of the new fields, the conditions will be much better.  It will be a grass field opposed to dirt with no rocks or bumps to intrude on the intended direction at which the ball is kicked.”  

Christian Rose is a sophomore and part of the JV football team here at SBRHS.  The football team plays all their home games on the turf, but a majority of their practices take place at Pottersville.  “Personally, I believe that the turf isn’t specifically for football,” says Rose.  “We have other sports teams here and they all need to practice and get better.  They also need the proper space to practice.”  Abby Cadorette is a sophomore and member of the Varsity field hockey team.  She tells The Breeze that field hockey uses the turf for “shooting and passing drills but we start every practice off with a run.  We go to Pottersville when we have a grass game the next day.”  She also says that Varsity field hockey has played “every home game on the turf.  I believe our record is 10-2-1.”

Matthew Forrest, the girls Varsity soccer coach, shares his thoughts about the turf distribution with The Breeze as well: “I’d like to bring all of the fall coaches and administrators together and discuss our options.  Obviously every team isn’t going to get what they want.  I feel the soccer programs are just looking to be considered when the turf schedule is being made.”  Coach Forrest gives the statistic for the girls soccer team for turf usage this fall season.  The girls soccer team will “have a total of fifty-five days where we’ll either practice or play games this season.  However, we’ll have a total of only eight games or practices on the turf.”

Not only do the sports teams face uneven distribution of the turf time, but the school’s Blue Raider Marching Band also faces this problem as well.  Katherine Esten, the lead alto saxophonist, says “the band practices wherever it’s available.  We usually practice in the parking lots which becomes difficult as people will actually drive through the middle of where we’re rehearsing–a serious hazard.”  It has become a pressing question of safety with the uneven distribution not only with the soccer teams at North Elementary where many people have gotten hurt, but also with the marching band.  They have to practice in the parking lot where cars are continuously driving by with no concern whatsoever about the safety of the students.  “Some teams have the option to practice at North or the middle school,” says Esten.  “With all the equipment marching band has, we just don’t have the option to go to another location.”

Although student athletes understand that it is a constant struggle to keep every sports team satisfied with the continued process of working out the quirks of a new school, many are unhappy with the time they are allotted on this brand-new and beautiful field.  As the fall season comes to an end for the second year at the new high school, many are still left wondering where the turf time has gone and whether their individual sports teams will have more time on the turf in the years to come.