The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

24 ~WAll-Jtl.l)()(IHlK)Nl(jl£-denesday. Mary U. 2003 S ., 7. wxfl Field Of dreai llS . O 0 C C St. David debuts $2 million field as Celtws girls soccer team play to a draw BYBOBVRBANAC ‘ A f" / .. _" 7 ,. ‘;‘fWâ€"-‘â€"â€"â€"f (fhmmclesrafl‘ M’. j ' . - _ - . - ~ ' _ /‘_‘;‘1§Tfi~ *_'T___'_ _ ,__ __'.T ._._ - T t was tired. balding and starting to show its /’ ,; ~~:"1"_'“::“-~-â€"â€"â€"j“it“:"~ , ~'â€" “44 11: _“,_____T.” t"";‘_’2\ f» \\ Iage. But. with its extreme makeover finally 4, 1 . i ;~3r-r "fiffijflffi‘i1:7; ..._.; . ‘ .:':â€" "'_“_j‘_‘:_17r:; if riftil; Tt:\ over. the new $2 million spons field upgrade 4:4; fâ€" : ‘ "’ ’~_~_â€"â€"__ M “;;‘; gi‘fix at St. David (kitholic secondary school should x”/’_L~‘ whmwwfimm,“ Qt 38:5- \\ now be the envy of all its high school neigh‘ /7. if" ; ‘ £5 511 hours 45” ff_.'-,’;.'/.' 3 ‘ } ETTQQN While delays pushed the coming out 7" ,/i-‘:'/j" . . y . l ' "f’\“‘~}x‘t party from November to last Wednesday, %’ 4" 4): «at: 51 ‘0' ‘l "09 0° J 0’" U a. " 7“ 0 l“ ‘ \\ there was no hiding the student body's f// J j i t l ~\ , enthusiasm for the state-ofâ€"the an playing /‘/" 4 .‘ ‘ ‘ 4 j , . f __ 4‘ ‘ ‘ \ surface featuringa new high-tech field turf. % i" 57 5?“ ‘3' "v“ l ‘ l any", i‘- “is": thu'T' ‘ Tu” ‘_ i it The school's teams now have a field they _-_._ n; 1! v‘ f. C t, ‘ U \' 1 a“ l i can beproud of and one that can accommo- t: ‘ 5, ¢’--' 1: l if .' t l f' ‘~".. ~ 1 it y . date sports like soccer, football, rugby, track _ 2 .: (Q, t} i? l 5 : ‘A Q ‘ 3 l and field or just about any other outdoor 5-3, x :~~.‘-‘:‘<’1.'“~ _ ‘ .‘ Thu; ' - a“ , . 1-1: .-. t l / sport you can imagine, including sport Fris- ’ " " fl " .‘ bee. j ‘ I , , J. A few of those budding sports stars were i l / j ‘ gathered conspiratorially on the sidelines . 10 £0 ‘3 O f 1 O 5 O 5 0 " «I 0 8 0 2 0 10' l ‘ after the school officially kicked off play on 3 . the new field. a. . f / "l haven‘t actually been tackled on it yet. - ‘ . l // ‘ ’ ' but it really looks nice," said Stephen lami- \ _‘~ ~--‘ “MATT"TMAW _-_-.._.c....__.~. “M ‘; son, a member of the Celtics' junior football ‘ \\\‘~“_. “"" A? team gathered with some ofhis teammates. ' ‘ _,_§_._._e_-_, .._c,e....... . ”“"""""'“ “ “Ti" f < flat: The 15~yearfold said he's played a little : ' “tiâ€"£515: T 17 . 7 L 42 . 1~ . T“ soccer on the new surface. and he’s run ' ‘ ' ”- ' v "a“ ‘ ‘ " around its new rubberized track, but he's Students at St. David Catholic secondary school spelled out their team name at the opening of the school's new field. still waiting to suit up for some real game . ' _ , _ _ , WWDW'O action. Arid any1hing is better thari the old game. ‘:Wereiust so happy we can geton the and said it was a model for future sports money in the base that there is on the surâ€" cow patch that the learn was playing and field, its been a king Winter and lhercs areal field development by school boards while face, said Degutis. _ practicing ,,h_ sense of excttement about what this brings Visiting the protect. ln fact. the drainage of the field is a marâ€" . . "That My, haflcauvan dirt." said mum)” to the school and the community." The field had an high initial capital cost. vel in itself, and will whisk away any 4 “Kl" end on the junior team fl” vou didn't lacalamita mentioned community mem- Degutis said, biit it's balanced out by the unwanted precipitation. . have equipment on 1 think it would hurt a hers because they‘re a big part of the new maintenance costs utnipared to a regular "You could turn three fire hydrants on h” more, but that‘s what the rugby plavt'rs business model the board unveiled iii grass field. It can also be used eight months here full blast and you wouldn't get a puddle had to do last year.” ' ' launching the field. Community and other out ofthe year. compared to four you'd likely on this field." said Degutis. “That's how good One 0, those rugby Mawm Pat Rummy user groups will help recover some of the get with grass. the drainage is" . ‘ _ ”urns, was standing nearby salivating at his initial costs of the field and organizations " The most you'll get out of a natural field ‘ Board ofiicrals initially hoped to have the chance to K“ on the pitch and defend his like Waterloo Minor Soccer have already iii a year is 400 hours." he said. “This is one field operational by late fall but that was (“If made strong commitments to reserving time we'll get more than 3.000 hours. And the dif» bumped back by a wet construction season. Whig H way better that the old one.” said on the playing surface. ference is when you add the 400m hour on a Despite the delays. Degutis said the project the Grade 10 student. "It was a much needed "They're signing up and lining up to use natural field it‘s getting pretty rough. here came in on budget, Where the delay hurt improvement ,, it makes it much easier to the field." said lacalamita. “They provide 3.000 is as good as the first one because the was in the field manager's ability to market kick things like a sham ball. ‘ the stimulus for making projects like this surface never changes.” the facility. They weren't able to enter in as “It’s also easier In turn and easier to cut." happen." The board also expects to recoup all of its many agreements until the field was fully “nth would have liked m christen the Vic Degutis. who handles the business initial investment by the time the functional operational. \ field but that honour fell [0 the (leltics' operations of the field for the Catholic life of the field turf is up in about 12 years. But with the facility open Degutis expects . mm girls we“, team who managed at 3,3 board. acknowledged some criticism arose The turfitself wasn't the most expensive pan that to change. Especially since the artificial “e agaimt Mnmignm 00510 when the board decrded to get into the busi- of the project. That was the underlying foun- turf can be used until the SHOW-files and has “We're looking forward to it and if "vs a ness of field development. But even Fouca- dation and it should serve the facility well artificial lights that Will keep it open on a “an”, all the better," said St. David princiA tion Minister Kathleen Wynne acknowl- fora much longer time. nightly until 10 pm. pal. pan] lacalamita. before the stan of the edged the innovative nature of the project “People don't realize that there's more Continuedonpogezs , P'IAIN 8x STAIN SALE ON NOW' 3 ' a ' I t w \ s -.' "‘.~ '.‘~ ) .' . . HitltRS . lit‘llltlllllll \ltNllt' wwwhom sciecoruttngconi