Niles West recently installed vibrant new turf in the football stadium, replacing the 12-year-old turf that had previously been there. In the last three weeks, student athletes and gym classes have experienced being the first ones to break it in.

“Getting the new football field was an amazing purchase for all the teams that use it because our old field was horrible. The old field was rough and hard and would cut and scrape your body just from falling on it,” senior Max Nauman, a wide receiver on the varsity football team.

Other football players, like seniors Jack Leons and Sam Burns, completely agreed with Nauman.

“The new turf is definitely a lot better… In practice it’s definitely something we notice because it’s a lot safer and it’s easier to cut on,” Burns, a wide receiver and cornerback said. Leons, a quarterback, noticed one quality that really sold him on the new turf. “There’s no real big difference except that you have better grip on it than the old one. I think it was definitely worth the money especially because it was being worn out and it’s been there for a while,” Leons said.

There’s a five-year district plan in place that allocates a certain amount of money for building and ground updates, which includes updating assets like the track and turf. Two years ago, it was decided that the turf would be redone this year. The cost of the project was $600,000, including a new groomer to upkeep the field.

“The average life expectancy for turf is about nine to ten years, and we were able to extend it to 12 by caring for it properly,” Athletic Director Dana Krilich said. Krilich also explained why the process took so long. “We were able to save sections of the turf and keep them for the baseball and softball batting cages, as well as other parts that we can reuse if we need to,” Krilich said.

Football players aren’t the only athletes to play on the football field and new turf. Varsity soccer players have been just as pleased with the upgrade.

“I think it was smart to use that money on the turf. It’s been too long since it was changed and now was a good time to do it,” senior defender Mikey Lohan said.

“The new turf is a lot softer but it doesn’t allow the ball to bounce as much, which isn’t a bad thing. The old turf wasn’t horrible but it was much more like a carpet than turf, along with it being a lot harder,” senior and midfielder Mateo Rodriguez said.

“I really enjoy the new turf and the staff did a great job on it. I am looking forward to this season and years to come on our home field,” sophomore Frano Krajlevic, a striker on the varsity soccer team, said.

Players of a wide variety of positions on both the varsity football and soccer teams have all come to the same conclusion: the new turf is a great improvement from the one they all played on in previous years. It seems as though the new turf is a success and yet another great aspect of Niles West athletics.