Crisfield High gets a long overdue renovation

The Crabbers of Crisfield High School now have something they’re ready to show off to the whole Eastern Shore, a brand new athletic field. Previously Crisfield was known for their sub-par field, their new field will change that reputation.

Over the summer the Crabbers had their field re-graded,  got a new irrigation system and had the field re-seeded with a rye fescue blend of grass. 

This all made possible by roughly $180,000 in county money. Money that Somerset County Board of Education superintendent Dr. John Gaddis said was well spent.

“The feedback we received from other teams was our fields weren’t in the best shape, there were stones, rocks, divots, holes in some cases,” said Gaddis, who added that now the new field will give athletes the chance to show off their ability.

More importantly the new field will give Gaddis and parents an added sense of security as the prior field’s poor conditions created a hotbed for injuries.

Senior field hockey player La’Tier Evans knows first-hand how dangerous the old field was.

“I have a very bad ankle and I actually fractured it twice playing on this field,” Evans said.

Now with new field Evans said the team will be able to perform better, the prime grass conditions making it easier for the team to play at full speed without the worry of balls taking awkward bounces from rocks on the field.

The team that might benefit the most from the new field is the defending state runner-up boy’s soccer team. Prior to the new field the team was forced to play on the baseball field which junior defensive mid-fielder Jacob “J.J.” Evans said was not ideal for playing on. 

“It was really like hilly and there was some rocks around and it was just weird, when you ran it was kind of hard,” Evans said. “Say someone gives you hard pass like the ball, you don’t know if whether it’s going to stay low or just come up at you, you could have a bad hop on it.”

The Crabbers will open up their new field Wednesday night as field hockey hosts their season opener. 

Perhaps the only person as excited as the players is lifetime Crabber  and current athletic director Gregory Bozman.

“I probably wont sleep much tonight you know I’ve got all my paperwork I need for the national anthem and the sportsmanship pledge I got it all ready, so I can’t wait I just hope we get a victory but it’s going to be nice to see the fans come out and really see how nice this is,” Bozman said.

In addition to the new field Crisfield also purchased a golf cart to use for injured players, new bleachers and new flags for the field.