FIELD OF THE YEAR SCHOOLS AND PARKS SPORTING GROUNDS
Pace Academy built what is now known as the Lacrosse / Auxiliary Field back in 2008 as the first installment of the Riverview Athletes Sports Complex . This field was the original home of the Pace Academy football team until Walsh Field was constructed in 2014 . It has never been fully renovated and has only had a handful of re-sod installments to fix wear areas from lacrosse games and practices . I preface with that so that you can understand the lengths our crew has to go through to combat thatch layers , organic buildup , drainage issues and overall aging of a 14-year-old playing surface that we believe is kept in prime condition for our student athletes .
Pace Academy ’ s Lacross Field is the practice and game site for girls and boys varsity through middle school lacrosse , boys and girls middle school soccer , occasionally a varsity soccer match and girls flag football . This field is also the play area for hundreds of kids during football games in the fall . It is safe to say this field never sleeps — especially during the spring season with more than 35 practice days and 48 games within a four-and-a-half-month span . Therefore , with it being our oldest field , we tend to have to give it some additional attention during these heavy stretches . That is additional turf maintenance , as well as innovative ideas to reduce wear and tear as much as we can . This year we handcrafted turf goal mouth covers that our teams used at practice to reduce damage in the crease .
To go along with our extensive slate of sporting events , Pace ’ s Lacrosse Field was also the home for our school ’ s Fall Fair in 2021 . This included having several large inflatables , dunk tanks , mini golf and other carnival games scattered around our field for an entire day . This set us back quite a bit on our ryegrass grow-in and forced us to add additional rye in preparation for spring sports . Luckily , the weather cooperated and stayed warm through the beginning of December and allowed a productive yield .
— Daniel Prince , Riverview Sports Complex manager sportsfieldmanagementonline . com November 2023 | SportsField Management
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