Field of … nightmares
Soccer players have to battle their own field as well as opponents
Lumps, bumps, and humps mar the Cannon Falls soccer fields. The fields designated for the school’s varsity, junior varsity, and junior high boys and girls soccer teams are unfit to be played on. Some of the many things wrong with the fields are not they are not groomed properly, they can be damaging to the players playing on them, the bugs are ridiculous, and there is not enough room for all the teams.
The soccer fields are not painted correctly. The fields lack essential lines such as the penalty kick line and the goal line, which is a line that runs between the two goal posts. In the National Federation of State High School Associations it states these as some of the many requirements for a high school soccer field, requirements that the high school is not meeting. The lines are hardly ever painted making it hard for players and referees to distinguish the lines of play and make proper rulings, and even when the lines are painted a lot of the time the grass is too long which still obstructs the view of the lines to all on the field.
The uneven ground – recently worsened by heavy trucks hauling dirt to the back corner of the woods off the field – can sometimes cause rolled ankles and other minor injuries. A level ground would help remove some of the minor injuries, such as rolled or sore ankles and other joint soreness, and strengthen the athletes bodies rather than weakening them. With less injuries the players would play stronger which would help the program grow.
The bugs on these fields are a nuisance. Senior player Aleena Kearns said, “I’ve walked away from a game after swallowing probably forty bugs and getting thirty bug bites.” This is ridiculous! These players should not be ingesting and getting eaten alive by these bugs, and that’s just the players. Fans that come out to watch and support the team are also being devoured by these rampant bugs which in turn makes fans not want to come show their support.
Currently there are five teams practicing on two soccer fields. All the teams except for boys varsity practice at 3:30pm and boys varsity practices at 4:00pm so all of these kids are down at the fields around the same time. With five teams there’s not even enough goals for each team to practice with. On game days when there are two games going on at the same time it leaves three teams without a field to practice on and absolutely no area to work with. The back of the elementary is filled with soccer teams, hills, and a junior high football field. There is just not enough room behind the elementary for five teams to be practicing on.
If the school allowed the kids to play at John Burch it would be a good representation of the school for visiting teams to see and would show the school’s support behind the budding program. Playing at John Burch would also be beneficial for the school. Charging admission would be a start of benefits for the school along with selling concessions. Instead of just the football and baseball teams getting to enjoy the experience of playing on a field like John Burch. A girl’s team would finally be able to play at John Burch instead of having all boys teams playing there. Visiting teams would see how much Cannon Falls supports the new programs and give the school a good look.
When it comes to practicing, the soccer program has more nets just not a place to put them. One idea is to put these other nets on the field in front of the school. Another idea to get more playing room is to try to make a deal with the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and see if the teams can play on those fields again. These are cheaper solutions to the poor fields that the soccer teams currently have.
The complications with the fields further hold back the productivity and advancement of the soccer program along with other problems. By eliminating poor field conditions it would be one less thing for the programs to work around. By playing on such poor fields the soccer program has problems that they should not have to work around.
Taylor is the Lantern's fiery Arts and Entertainment editor. She has enough energy to keep Chicago running for a week, and channels it in Dance, Soccer,...