Just in time for the fall season, the Marblehead High School football field will have a fresh new layer of turf. The process of laying down the turf takes about a month and will be completed this week. The new turf will improve the safety and the gameplay for MHS athletes.
“It was getting slippery out there,” said Kent Wheeler, the newly appointed athletic director at MHS. “So their footing will be much better on the new turf.”
Many MHS athletes are also very excited to go out and play on the new turf.
“It was really easy to slip on the old turf,” said Cora Gerson, a soccer player at MHS. “It just looks like it’s going to be a much safer field to play on.”
The field will be used by high school football, soccer, and field hockey, adult men’s soccer, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls soccer, flag football, and occasionally by youth football.
Laying down the new turf, however, was just the last step of a year-long process of fundraising and planning.
“We did a summer kick-off cocktail party, we ran a golf tournament, a 5k road race, and we held a pickleball tournament,” said Muffy Paquette, co-chair of the All Sports Boosters club, which raises money for all MHS sports.
“The homecoming dance at the highschool was partially a fundraiser for the turf as well, and National Grand bank was our hero and provided a gigantic donation.”
In total, the new turf cost over $ 800,000, all of which was provided in donations.
The new turf is expected to last about eight to 10 years, but by maintaining it well, it could last a few years longer, Paquette said. The last turf lasted 12 years before it had to be replaced.
To the surprise and delight of the Boosters Club and the MHS community, many unexpected people around Marblehead stepped up to donate in order to make this new field a reality.
“This community never ceases to amaze me in that they always step up,” said Paquette. “And what I find really heartwarming is that it isn’t just people who have kids that go to the high school that donate. Everyone understands the significance of having a playing field like this.”
Organizers feel that it’s not just about creating a good playing surface, it’s also about creating a great experience for the fans.
“We’ve done so much to renovate the areas around the turf that it was perfect timing that we could replace the field now,” said Paquette. “The Forever Fan Zone, the murals that were painted on the wall a few years ago, the standing snack shed, it’s all just a complete experience, and now that we have this beautiful new field I feel like the experience is complete.”
Paquette also thinks that building a good sports environment is a cornerstone for building a community.
“Athletics does so much for a student,” said Paquette. It teaches them to be a teammate, it gives them athletic ability, keeps them in shape and it helps teach them how to plan out their day.”
Grey Collins is a junior at Marblehead High School. His photographs and reporting appear in the Current.
