Excitement builds within athletes at Hollis Brookline High School as construction continues to move along on the new turf field. The long await for a satisfactory playing field will soon be here, but the other portion of students not participating in sports are left impeded.  

After many protracted town meetings in regards to debating over a turf field for Hollis Brookline High School, the HBHS athletes finally got the outcome they were looking for. On the other hand, the Hollis Brookline Robotics Team was left unsettled when the proposed idea of adding on to the robotic room got tossed. Against it all, students who do not participate in robotics or athletics seem to disagree and believe the money should have been spent on something that benefits everybody attending the school. 

The Hollis Brookline community is provided with a valuable amount of fields that provides each sporting team with a place to practice and play. So why spend a significant amount of money on a brand new field? Students not contributing to the use of the new field believe that it is not something that the school truly needs because of the amount of fields that are presented already.

Logan Desruisseau ‘22 said, “I don’t think our school really needed the turf field. There were other things the school could really use. What are we going to do with the current lacrosse field?” 

On the other hand, many athletes that play on the current fields at HBHS say this turf field is a necessity for the high school athletic teams. Many injuries have occurred because of the conditions of the field and athletes are ready for that to end. 

Already this year, the girls soccer team has had several injuries that have sidelined many of their athletes due to the conditions of the field. “I think the turf is a better playing field because the grass field is so uneven and you can get hurt very easily… with the grass the ball bounces everywhere and it is hard to track. I like getting turf I think it will just be better for our [lacrosse] team.” said Nicole Heiter ‘22. 

Getting a more professional view on the turf field, HB’s physical education teacher, Tracy Gray, thinks it will not only save the school money, but will provide the teams with a more regulated playing schedule by reducing the amount of game cancellations. 

Gray said, “With grass, you kind of have to alternate when it can be played on and when it can’t so it gets a chance to regrow. If you are constantly using it, it’s going to look like trash, but with turf you can continue to use it over and over again and you can [also] clear it off earlier in the season and use it” 

Whether you are thrilled or not about the recent addition to HBHS, it looks like the turf field is  going to be done no later than November, and ready to go for the spring season.