Home

The Steamboat Springs Education Fund Board has a unique opportunity to improve the spring sports landscape for our schools and our community. It's an opportunity the board should seize.

Last week, the Fund Board's Capital Commission requested $250,000 to put an artificial surface on Gardner Field, the high school field that is used almost exclusively for Sailors football. The $250,000 would match funds raised privately. A group of parents and community members has been working for the past month to raise funds for the $500,000 project. The group has $175,000 and thinks it can reach $300,000.

This spring underscored the importance of this effort. The abundant snowfall during the winter meant no fields were available for practice, let alone games, during the spring. The Sailors' lacrosse, soccer and baseball teams spent most of the spring on the road. They juggled practices in the high school gyms, and only the girls soccer team played a home game. All of the student-athletes missed significant class time because of travel.

The artificial surface will allow for snow removal and drainage that will allow multiple teams to practice and play games at Gardner Field in the spring, thus more than tripling the facility's use.

Why is enhancing athletic activity important to education? Because study after study shows that students involved in extracurricular activities perform better academically than those who are not. And giving them a local facility will cut in half the amount of class time the student-athletes miss.

The project is cost-efficient -- the turf will allow significantly more use while reducing maintenance costs by thousands annually, it is estimated. The district spends significant funds now to maintain a grass field that is used for maybe 10 football games. For most of the rest of the year, the field is under snow, under mud or under repair.

Another benefit is that putting artificial turf on Gardner Field relieves some of the pressure the city faces as it contemplates additional recreation facilities.

Advocates of the artificial turf want the new field in place by fall. They need Education Fund Board and School Board approval by June 1 to get that accomplished.

Fund Board member Jerry Kozatch said he didn't understand the rush, that one more year shouldn't make that much difference. But there is no guarantee the community dollars will be available next year. Many contributors are parents with children involved in spring sports; their incentive to donate will no doubt decrease as their children's opportunity to benefit from the project declines.

The artificial turf project is a perfect fit for the Fund Board's mission -- it leverages private funding to finance an amenity that the school district otherwise could not afford. It will save the district money, make better use of an existing facility and most of all, it will benefit hundreds of students academically and athletically.

This is a check that should be easy for the Fund Board to write.