John Raffel
Sports Scene
Freeland’s football facility is likely to be the envy of the area and for good reason: synthetic field turf.
It’s the newest addition for Freeland athletics and there’s a unique story behind it, according to 12-year athletic director Jeff Bell. It was being installed in early August and was slated to be ready by the first game.
“It’s a combination of things,” he said. “Our biggest thing is that the athletic association here in Freeland is a very strong group. They do a lot of maintaining of the athletic complex for the district. It’s a debate we’ve been having for a number of years on what it costs us to water, seed, fertilize, paint, and mow a grass field. We keep talking about it.
“Finally, they instructed me in May to call some turf companies and see what it would cost to have a synthetic turf field put in and have something to compare it to. We did that and got a verbal quote to start with. During that process, our kids went to the state [track] finals at Comstock Park.”
Comstock Park recently put in field turf at its facility, which includes a track used for the Division 3 state finals.
“Ron and Michelle Schauman were there watching their grandson and fell in love with the turf field and made a generous donation of $300,000,” Bell said.
The amount Freeland would need wound up being $642,800.
“Our athletic association, over the number of years they’ve been doing fundraising, they’ve had CDs set up and they made a generous donation of one of those CDs of $42,800,” Bell said. “That brought down to the grand total of $300,000 that was left. We looked at different angles of that $300,000.”
It was determined that the athletic association would be able to redirect the money that it had used to maintain the grass field to help pay for the rest.
“We have other groups involved,” Bell said. “We have a strong youth program and they’ve made a donation to it to help maintain the field. We’re hoping to get donations from that group to go toward the turf. We’re still selling field sponsorships at this time.”
A-Turf, with a Michigan office out of Grand Rapids, is the company Freeland has been working with for the facility.
“We don’t have lacrosse, but we do have soccer. Our athletic association has done great work with the soccer stadium. That will still be our primary soccer field. It’s about 100 yards away. The new field will have soccer lines on it as a backup in case of bad weather.”
The varsity and junior varsity teams will practice on the turf field.
The field has a 10-year warranty, Bell noted. “They said you can get 12 to 15 years out of the turf. We’re hoping for 15, since we don’t have all those other sports on it.”
Bell said the only other field in the immediate area that has field turf, to his knowledge, is Midland Stadium.
Football players and coaches, understandably, love the new facility.
“They’re very excited,” Bell said. “They really believe, and I know the coaching staff knows, and it’s the same feeling I have, is that we’re blessed to be in a community where people have the interest in kids. It’s phenomenal for a school our size to have the complex we’re going to have. The kids look at that and take the responsibility on, knowing there’s been an investment in their behalf, and they’ll put forward their best effort to represent our community well. It’s been a humbling experience for me and hopefully also a great experience for the kids.”
The drainage system with the turf will keep the field playable during rainy and snowy weather.
GREENVILLE
In May 2011, Greenville School District voters approved a $14.6 million bond issue. Of that amount, $6.5 million went toward a new stadium between the high school and middle school. The former longtime football facility, Black Field, located several blocks from the high school, will be used for Rocket Football.
Legacy Field will be ready for this season.
Greenville coach David Moore points out to the uniqueness of the new facility.
“The stadium is cool,” he said. “I like to tell people it’s not the biggest stadium, but it’s unique. The design is really unique with the six-foot wall around the field and a [higher] wall in the end zone.”
With no track around the facility, fans will still feel that they’re on top of the action, Moore noted. New locker rooms are included in the complex, and players will enter the stadium through a tunnel.
BELDING
Voters in Belding approved a $38.8 million bond levy in 2010, and in May, athletic director Joel Wilker announced that Rudness Field, the Redskins’ football facility, would get field turf. During the summer, work commenced on the new turf.