By Maggie Devereux

 Editor-In-Chief

|The soccer team didn’t have to worry about the rain Monday Aug. 20 as they prepared to play their first game because it was also the first game being played on the new turf field.

“With the rain we weren’t worried about tearing up the grass and we almost played our game,” senior Avi Chitman said.
Even though the field was really to take on the rain, the thorguard was not, and the game was cancelled; however that was not the team’s first chance to play of the turf.
With graduation remaining outside last year, a big concern was whether or not the field would be completed in time for the school year. Despite concerns, it was completed about a week ahead of schedule according to Associate Principal Greg Minter.
The main reason the field was finished ahead of schedule was due to the little rain this summer so the construction hardly had any delays. Also, Minter believes that the installation crews are becoming more experienced since many other schools already have the fields.

The turf has already seen some good use. According to Minter, football, soccer and band have had up to five hours on it some days. And since band can use it during the day, all juniors and seniors were given the opportunity to buy parking passes this year without a lottery.
With so many programs wanting field access though, there have already been some compromises made. Chitman said that while the team has had to have some earlier practices in order to use the turf.
Chitman said the soccer team has definitely seen more advantages of the turf. They used to have to worry about divots, holes and possible injuries on the old grass field. It also helps because they are on a level playing field with other teams in the area that already had turf.
“The turf is just a nice surface to play on, it’s a much faster game,” Chitman said.
Football will play their first game on the field this Friday, Aug. 24 in their season opener against Glenbrook South where band will also have their first performance on the field.
And make sure you check out Boys’ Soccer preview  as well as the Boys’ Football preview as they look to take on a new season on a new field.