SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Just five high schools in the state of Vermont have a turf field for their fall and spring sports teams to play games on. On Thursday, that list will grow to six as Rice opens the John P. Larkin Turf at Bill Landers Field.
Like many high schools around the state of Vermont, Rice has long been a victim of poor weather conditions causing field problems, especially late in the fall seasons and early in the spring.
“Last year, we were hosting a semi-final game, um, and we ended up playing at South Burlington because our pitch just couldn’t be playable during that time of year,” said Rice boys soccer head coach Richard DeGraff-Murphy. “So being able to host it at our own campus is gonna be huge for the school, huge for the soccer program.”
“Mike Jabour (South Burlington Athletic Director) has been a really good friend to me when it comes to asking him for his field, along with Q (Quaron Pinckney) over at Burlington,” said Rice Athletic Director Neil Brodeur. “You know, our spring sports are in the gymnasium for a month before everything happens. And with the weather in Vermont, anything can change.”
After more than a decade of planning, the knights decided a little over a year ago that it was time for a change.
“The first idea of this, it was probably 15 years ago with one of my assistant coaches, Joe Larkin,” Brodeur said. “Pulled out the graph paper and tried to figure everything out, you know, and then along the way it came to fruition.”
Turf fields have long been a major talking point around the state. Public schools like Burlington, South Burlington, and Rutland have turf, while other communities have voted down public financing for similar projects. Rice joins Burr and Burton and St. Johnsbury in using donations to get this project completed.
“This is truly part of the magic of Rice,” Brodeur said. “We didn’t really go out and get a lot of heavy hitters for this project. They came to us. We really are very fortunate to have some really wonderful people here at Rice, part of this family.”
The field will be available to host games including postseason competition for all four ball sports this Fall, which could make a huge difference for the Green Knights, especially in field hockey and soccer.
“The speed is very different,” said sophomore midfielder Violet Clough. “It’s easier to pass up the field and get into the goal.”
“The ball moves faster,” added junior forward Kate Larkin. “It just completely changes the speed and elevates the game to a higher level. Obviously our regular field isn’t regulation size, so it’s really exciting to be able to play on an actual size field now.”
“We play better on turf,” DeGraff-Murphy added. “We always have. Playing at Haucke Field has always been challenging. It’s a grass field, it’s a smaller field. However, the turf is gonna lend some predictability to play and our speed of play.”
And getting the field done is just the first step in what Brodeur hopes will be a series of transformitive projects for the Rice athletic department.
“There’s a large wishlist here,” he said. “At the top of the priority for phase two would be to get a new track in here. A full size track for our track and field athletes, and then also tennis courts. So we’d like to keep our kids here and there’s a few things in the works. We’ll see how quickly we can get those done.”
The field hockey team will break that turf in with a contest against Essex on Thursday.
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