One thing has been significantly lacking from the Fargo North campus for a while, and now in the upcoming 2019-2020 season we will finally see the addition we have all been waiting for. A turf field is finally being added and is something that will be greatly appreciated. The new turf is all the buzz especially with the upcoming football and soccer seasons. Players, coaches, and fans alike are all excited for this addition to the athletic department and can’t wait until it is in use. The project was started in July and is predicted to be done sometime in September.
The athletic programs are excited to see what the field will add to them, “Getting the turf is adding another piece to our program. It gets everyone around school excited and gives us a new home field feeling. The old field would get beaten up and torn apart because of all the sports playing on it and the rain. Now with the turf we won’t have to worry about it being too muddy of anything,” says Carlson.
This turf field is something that is essential for Fargo North, especially in regard to the last couple years. Due to the fall sports playing on the field until freezing weather and snow covering it for a long period of time the original field was never prepared by the time spring sports started. This causes sports such as girls’ soccer to lose a number of games each season and only have a limited amount of home games. The past two springs have been two of the worst on record and have really opened the eyes of Fargo North staff members to the need of a turf field.
In addition to this late start, the rough condition of our old field caused unpredictable game situations and some injuries. Junior soccer player Reece Anderson says, “I personally will really like having turf. I think it will benefit not only soccer but every sport at North. With the turf field the team will get to play games sooner because we won’t have to worry about the field being wet. We will also have less injuries due to not having divots on the field.” Head boys soccer coach Jace Duffield also comments on his appreciation of the new turf, “I think one it will provide consistency on gameday as we will know what to expect, two it will provide more opportunities for players and students to use the field more and third we will have more pride because our field will be very nice and we will be proud to play on it.”
That is another thing that the turf field is adding to North High. Pride. For a while we had been one of the few remaining schools in the area to not have a turf field. Now we can finally join the ranks and have a nice field to call our home. This field is going to bring a sense of unity and a stronger sense of home to the North High campus.
“I think all the sports are excited to play on it and it pumps new life and school spirit into the teams,” comments Aiden Carlson, a junior football player.
There is a lot of excitement surrounding the completion of this field, “Oh yeah, I am definitely excited for it to be done, it will be nice to have an identity and home back in place,” says Duffield. The estimated 1.2-million-dollar project is supposed to wrap up in September and the community is more than ready for it. Recently, however production on the field has come to a rest due to recent rainfall and the project is no longer set to make its finish date of late September.
