06/09/2026
"Hey, what happened to the football field?"
Yeah, it looks more fit for a tractor pull than a good ol' game of pigskin right about now. If you play long enough into the playoffs, this is about what a football field looks like the first weekend in November, so in a way, we're hoping it's a bit of foreshadowing. But, we're finishing up a years-long makeover for our incredible home field!
In the next couple of weeks, the field will be re-crowned ahead of installing natural grass. Re-crowning will make it so water drains evenly from the playing surface, while also eliminating the waves and pockets that existed in our current field. The goalposts - one of which is broken - will be replaced (the remaining "good" one will move to our practice field). Once complete, the field will be ready for game use for our home opener on August 21.
The two questions asked most about this project: "Why did we need to do this?" The previous field did not have a crown, so water would pool in odd spots. This created soft spots, holes, and divots, and these can cause injuries in phy ed or competition. There were "waves" in the playing surface, where some spots had 3 or 4 high points across the width of the field, meaning the playing surface was uneven. Our grounds and facilities crews over the years have done an INCREDIBLE job of maintaining this field to keep it ready for play, but this was a necessary step and long overdue. Recrowning the field improves drainage and evens out the surface, which will reduce the potential for injuries.
The other question we hear the most? "Why not artificial turf instead of grass?" Many Wisconsin schools have gone to the more-expensive turf option, but those surfaces have to be replaced more frequently. Turf fields also run "hotter" so living here in the Valley, an August gameday could see on-field temperatures rise easily into the triple digits. We also needed to keep a job for our line-painting robot, which might be the best development of anything we've done the last few years (TurfBot is amazing!). The most pertinent reason of course is that turf is 3 to 4 times more expensive than what we're doing.
The biggest thanks goes to the Boscobel community for getting so much done for our school and city facilities in the past few years, as well as for the work that continues for raising funds for other projects. The hard work and support will enable us, as a community, to continue to provide high-quality opportunities for kids in the area for years to come.
