There have been many of rumors lately about Leonardtown High School getting a turf field and the track redone. For many students, this brought on excitement, for others, confusion and frustration. “I don’t know, I guess the idea seems okay. It seems a bit excessive though, we’ve been playing so long on the one we have now, it seems fine.” said a Leonardtown High School athlete. Some people are making the argument of ‘Why should we get a new field and track if we can’t even supply our classes with paper?” We have the answer to questions involving financial concern.

          “We are using private sources for money, getting the turf field will not take away money from student resources. We are using private donations and fundraising,” Mr. Henderson, one of the teachers behind this operation, informed us on.  With the conditions are field goes through now, many of our athletic teams can be set at a disadvantage against other teams around the county. Leonardtown High is one of the few schools left with such poor quality of turf, track, and bleachers. When our sports teams go to away games, they could greatly suffer, they will not be used to playing on that type of field.

          Many, if not all Fall/Spring sports at Leonardtown High School require practice every day after school. In the conditions of our field and track, that puts our athletes at an extremely high risk for injury. “A turf field will help alleviate injury and give us a good field throughout the entire year.” Due to inclement weather conditions, many of our games and after school activities get canceled for not only one day, but two because our field now cannot sustain the rain. If we get a turf field, that problem may be resolved.

          Now, people that may not be in sports are probably thinking, ‘Why do I care about this, how can this benefit me?” Well, not only will this help the athletic department, but it will also add fun in PE and maybe some normal classes, too. As of current conditions, many PE teachers are hesitant to take their classes outside because the field already goes through enough damage, they don’t want to increase it. With a turf field, that problem will be reduced, as it will be much more durable. Imagine a nice sunny spring day, your teacher wants to take your class outside to do work, but she can’t because the bleachers are not only unsafe as is, but have rain on them from the night before. That would be a scenario pre-improvement, but if we get these new renovations, you may see changes in where your classes take place too!

          This is not a done deal yet, Mrs. Montgomery is meeting with school officials soon. So far it is just a plan, but teaches and school members have been trying to work on getting this to happen for many years. “It’s been a long time coming; it’s a way for the school to get the facilities they deserve.”