By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Fans of the Los Fresnos Falcons can anticipate some changes when their football team takes the field at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium in a few months.
The Falcons are expected to be wearing new uniforms with new helmets during the upcoming season, and the biggest change of all will involve the stadium surface. The natural grass at the Falcons’ home football field is being replaced by an artificial surface as Los Fresnos becomes the last Class 6A school in the Rio Grande Valley to make such a switch.
With the change at Los Fresnos, only two 6A schools remain in Texas that will be playing football games on natural grass this fall. Those two schools are San Antonio Southwest and Montgomery, which is located near Conroe.
Gonzalo Salazar, Los Fresnos CISD superintendent, said the installation of an artificial surface at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium and at the high school practice field plus construction of an indoor pool facility are proposed projects that have been on the school district’s list of things to do for a while. He added that other concerns were deemed more important and came first. Now those athletic upgrades are becoming reality.
“The improvements have been part of our long range facilities plan for quite some time,” Salazar said. “Over the years, however, we have had other priorities ahead of these projects. Maintaining competitive teacher salaries and the construction of an instructional wing at Los Fresnos United (ninth-grade campus) to accommodate the growth in enrollment are among those priorities. Replacing school buses, roof repairs and rehabilitating parking lots represent ‘big ticket’ items that have also warranted our attention.
“Through careful planning and a conservative approach to finances, we were in a position to recommend to the Board of Trustees that we proceed with these (athletic) capital improvement projects that will allow us to reduce the cost of maintenance as it pertains to the upkeep of the grounds while keeping support-personnel costs at appropriate levels in relation to student enrollment,” Salazar added. “It is important to note that (LFCISD) administration recommended proceeding with the projects since construction would not warrant an increase in taxes or taking on additional debt.”
Salazar said installation of the artificial surface at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium is scheduled to begin soon after graduation is held there on June 6. He said the timetable to complete the project, weather permitting, is approximately 60 days.
Los Fresnos’ football teams, varsity and sub-varsity, already are quite used to playing on artificial surfaces as all other schools in District 32-6A have them. LFCISD has three middle schools, one freshman campus and its high school with each of the campuses fielding multiple football teams.
The switch from natural grass to an artificial surface at the stadium and at the high school practice field is viewed as a positive move by pretty much everyone who will be affected by the change.
“It’s going to be very beneficial to our whole school district,” Falcons coach Clint Finley said. “It will give us the ability to get out on the field after there’s been a long, hard rain. It means all of our outdoor sports can get out there to practice regardless of what the weather’s been like. As much rain as we get sometimes in this part of the country, you can be restricted to practicing in the gym for weeks on end, so it’s just something that’s going to be very beneficial for everybody.
“We don’t have to worry about wearing it out,” Finley added. “Everybody can get out there on it and go. We don’t have to worry about tearing up the field (when it’s rainy). It’s just going to be great thing. They’re already working on the practice field (at the high school) and they’ll start on the stadium field after graduation. If the bad weather stays away, it should be ready by (the start of the season in) August.”
Mando Gonzalez, an assistant coach for football and girls soccer, said the athletes are looking forward to practicing and playing on the new artificial surface fields.
“I’m an old-school guy and I like grass, but when it comes to the benefits of having a high-quality (artificial) turf field like we’re getting, you can’t knock them,” Gonzalez said. “It’s going to be a great, quality field, and no matter, rain or shine, a game can be played if there’s no lightning.
“I think the athletes are going to really like it,” he added. “They’ll see a shiny, new toy, and they’ll just want play on it and have fun, and they’ll want to show up for it (and play their best). They’re going to step on that field and they’re going to play better just because of the fact that they’ve now got this brand new, beautiful field that was paid for so they could play on it.
“I think they’re pumped up and excited about it along with (getting) some new jerseys and new helmets. We’re looking at an exciting school year coming up.”
The Falcons’ soccer teams also will be affected by the change of turf because they play their matches at the stadium as well.
“It will get us ready for the playoffs playing on that type of field,” Lady Falcons soccer coach Marissa Wood said. “When you get to the playoffs, you’re not usually playing on grass. We want to practice during our season on the type of field that we’ll hopefully be ending our season on (in the playoffs). It’s about time that we get to do that. I think we’re all ready for (artificial) turf, especially with the weather here. It’s just something that’s going to really help us out.”
The artificial surface installation at the two sites is expected to be completed before the indoor swimming facility is finished, Salazar said.
The superintendent said plans for the proposed new aquatic facility are expected to be finalized in three weeks or so and then the bidding process for the project should commence. He said completion of the project could take at least 10 to 12 months.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.