Live Oak
’s new million dollar Ferrari is looking more like a Pinto all
the time. The newly finished Live Oak football field was cleared
two week ago for use, but it seems like no one was anticipating
playing football on it.
Live Oak’s new million dollar Ferrari is looking more like a Pinto all the time.
The newly finished Live Oak football field was cleared two week ago for use, but it seems like no one was anticipating playing football on it.
After the Acorns first home game last week and a week of Pop Warner games, the field is in disarray. It gives new meaning to the term “home field advantage.”
It was already brown after not being watered properly before the Live Oak game. And after the game, there were holes everywhere. Although by midweek, it appeared to at least be mostly green. But the holes were still there.
There were places on the field that were like walking through a marsh – there is one sink hole in the north end zone and one on 35-yard line.
Walking across the field is a challenge among the remaining toughs of grass and dirt that have been kicked up from normally usage.
When you grab a handful of grass from the field, the roots are pulled up with it. Normally, it would break off. In one place, the turf can almost be pealed off to reveal the clay soil underneath it.
And that was before it has even rained. It may not last through the season, nevertheless for several years like planned.
Maybe this will give the district the chance to put in the new lights and public address system that it laid the groundwork for when putting in the field.
Live Oak has been holding most of its practices on the side fields except for Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. practice in which it uses the main field to take advantage of the lights.
The field already is in midseason form. Too bad the team won’t get there without a proper home. Players were on the field Thursday for a light practice, and many players were seen slipping on the field or making last minute adjustments to avoid pot holes or watering holes.
Live Oak football coach Glen Webb summed it up best.
“It looks like a Chia pet,” Webb said. “We don’t need a tee to kick field goals. The thing is when the old field wore out, it wore out flat. This field is going to be filled with ankle breakers.”
The field appeared not to be smoothed out before the turf was laid. As a result the field is hilly – it almost looks like my six pack starting to break through my much developed keg. Well not quite.
“You can especially notice it when you run across the field sideways,” Webb said.
According to former Live Oak principal Rich Knapp, who was a big part in getting the field in place, the district followed the recommendations of Beile Sports out of San Jose when installing the field.
“We hired what we though were the best people out there and took their advice,” Knapp said. “They made a recommendation for what they thought was appropriate for our climate and for the soil type. They selected the turf based on a chemical analysis. They told us the more time, we could stay off the better.”
Sod was hurriedly put in place instead of seed so it would be ready for graduation. But it was three months after the graduation before the field was ready for for even the lightest of activity like kicking field goals.
Both the new track and the new field were quickly signed off to the school without having the people who would be using them the most to inspect them.
As a result, both the track and the field have imperfections that could have been spotted and corrected right away. If it’s not done right the first time…
When the field is done for the second time (and yes it will have to happen), maybe artificial turf will be put in like it has in so many high schools across the country recently.
Milpitas High and Salinas High are the perfect examples of recently completed artificial turf fields. These fields require little or no maintenance and are much more durable. Most schools have found that the initial cost more than makes up for the maintenance costs.
They can actually be used for football games instead of for show, which is what the Live Oak field will have to be used for. Maybe the field could be given to the Future Farmer’s Association for grazing. I wonder what type of grass sheep like.
As of press time, it is not certain what is going to be done to the fix the field. Maybe it just needs a little tender love and care, or maybe it needs a whole new rehauling.
When the new Sobrato field goes in like scheduled, it will be looked at a lot more carefully – hopefully by the right people this time.
