Sound of fans cheering in the stands, the band music echoing through the whole stadium, and helmets clashing together creating a spark. The Eagles are very excited to get to play on the new turf field. On August 29th at 6:30 p.m., the boys football team hosted Highland Park at West Leyden’s new turf field for their first game. This was an important day, as it marked both the start of their season and the debut of the new turf.
“It was a lot better performance wise. I personally like it due to the field being perfectly flat. It was harder to trip and easier to make cuts. Personally I liked it,” says Christopher Stephens (Wide Receiver). The new field was built to improve consistency, prevent rainouts, and reduce overall maintenance costs. “I liked the turf a lot because we practice on turf every day, so it gives us consistent footing and is much easier to play on in harsh weather. The only downside is it’s tougher on the legs and you get turf burn.” – Matthew Aguirre (QB). Because the football team practices at East Leyden on a turf field, adding turf at West Leyden made sense after all, why practice on turf when you play on grass? Like they say, “practice like you play.” “I love our new turf field. It was very soft when we would collide on the ground and was also very stable when we had to make quick, side-to-side movements. I love the design of the entire stadium as well, the stands are beautiful and the band stands work really well with the vibe of the crowd. Those are my pros. I only have 1 con to share, and that would be if the end zones could be a little bit of a darker blue. Right now they are a brighter royal blue, and if they were our darker navy blue it would be perfect. The royal blue still looks awesome but to match our team’s colors would be very nice.” – Jacob Ganir (DL/OL).
Leyden finished the season 4–5, going 3–3 in conference play and narrowly missing the playoffs in their first year on the new turf. While the field is widely liked, some players did note a few drawbacks as they adjusted to it. Overall, the field looks great but it looks even better when the Leyden Eagles are playing on it.
