After all of the construction, sports teams, including softball and soccer, are looking forward to their 2018 seasons and beyond. Can you blame them? The soccer team recently started practicing on their new turf field, while softball waits for theirs to be completed.

The new turf soccer practice field at Freer has opened many new opportunities for the coaches and players. One issue that is now prevented is having to share practice time with other teams. In previous years, the boys would sometimes have to practice in the small field next to the tennis courts. The field is hardly big enough to practice with JV and varsity players.

“The beauty of the field is we always have a field to practice on, where in the past we would have to wait to practice when sharing the football field,”  soccer coach Chris Krueger said.

The boys really seem to be enjoying their new field. An important difference is the guarantee of practices right after school and getting the players home at a decent time.

“We always have a field to practice on. This allows us to go right after school every day and can get the players home at a decent time on non game nights. As rest is just as important as practice,” Krueger said.

“I think it’s really nice having our own field. I’s a place where we can go and have fun or just train separately away from other sports practicing as well,”  player Cameron Gay said.

While the soccer field is a nice upgrade, the softball players have an even nicer facility in the works. Their new softball field is currently under construction. While the field was previously expected to be done for the current softball season, the team may have to wait until next fall.

“We’re excited for it to be done. I know the girls are excited to have a field they can be proud of,”  softball coach Wayne Montgomery said.

The softball team is currently playing “home” games at the Antonia baseball complex. Because of this, rainouts are still an issue.

However, it won’t be an issue much longer.

The new softball/baseball facility is going to be an all-turf field–infield and outfield. The facility will also have new bleachers, a press box, a concession stand and batting cages.

In the past, the field would become muddy and cause practices to be held inside. Now with the new turf, there is no worry about having a muddy field after rain. This gives the girls more opportunities to work on all aspects of the game.

“The biggest thing for us is just having a field that we can have a sense of pride in,” Montgomery said.