Help Improve Newtown’s Sports Facilities

To the Editor:

I am writing to show my support for the fundraising effort currently under way by the Blue and Gold Booster Club to revitalize and improve the high school stadium and facilities.

One of the issues that the people of Newtown have been debating is the availability of playing fields for the growing and extremely popular youth sports programs that our town offers. This debate has extended itself into the overall discussion about Fairfield Hills and the desire to purchase and preserve open space within the town. One major playing field that is terribly underutilized is the one found at the high school stadium (Blue & Gold Stadium). When the number of hours that this particular town asset is actually used is added up it comes out to less than 100 hours per calendar year. (Please bear in mind that this includes the Grasso Band Festival as well as The Relay For Life event.).

The reason for this is that a grass field cannot stand up to the volume of use that is required by the sports programs, both high school and youth, and maintain its integrity as a viable playing surface. For anyone who doubts this please take a look at the field behind Hawley School or any of the fields that are behind the high school. In fact one of the fields behind the school has already been totally resodded after only two years of use.

The answer to this dilemma is to install a state-of-the-art artificial playing surface at the high school stadium. With such a playing surface contests and events could be held rain or shine and eliminate the rescheduling that so often plagues the students’ calendar. In addition to that, these modern surfaces are safer than the previous generation of turf and in fact avoid such hazards that are found on worn grass fields such as divots etc, which can cause a turned ankle or knee.

Such a surface would allow more contests to be played at the high school stadium including subvarsity (freshman and JV) as well as the youth sports schedule, which in turn lessens the burden on the existing fields which would be used for practice only. Finally the sports that depend on a true bounce of the ball like soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse would benefit because the artificial surface yields just that — a true bounce and roll. (This is the reason that field hockey and lacrosse on the collegiate level have almost totally converted away from grass to artificial surfaces.)

Of course more events at the stadium necessitate an expansion and improvement to the ancillary facilities that are now in place such as seating capacity, restrooms, and storage space. The plan put forth by the Blue and Gold Club addresses this and proposes to construct these items with an architectural design that will make our facility one of the best in Fairfield County. You can learn more about this effort and how you can support it at NHSBlueandGold.com.

Sincerely,

Jim Regan

9 Wedgewood Court, Newtown                              November 1, 2005