Softball practice at Waterford High requires a hike just to arrive at the field. For years the team has practiced at Veterans’ Memorial State Park near Waterford Board of Education, which is across from the high school grounds. Kyleigh Pinell, junior on the team, says that walking to practice was “awful because if you didn’t have a car you had to walk and bring all of your gear from the high school and then walk all the way back when practice was over. One time we had to walk in the pouring rain.” 

There have also been instances in which practices have been cancelled or postponed due to other games scheduled on the field. Since the field is not the school’s property, there is no way for the team to get around the field’s schedule.The schedule ends up being organized by both the Parks and Recreation Department of Waterford and Waterford High School’s Chris Landry and Andrew Walker. “Towards the end of the season the men’s softball team started practicing, so we ran into some problems with that from time to time,” says Mr. Landry. 

However, players no longer have to worry about scheduling conflicts. The beginning of the construction of a new softball field on Waterford High’s grounds has begun. “I’m looking forward to finally having the field…It just feels like we’re finally heard as a girl’s sport,” says Brynn Holmes, junior on the team. 

The field was approved prior to the election of Rob Brule, however their approval provided by the first selectman and selectwoman Jodi Nazarchyk sped up the process. Soon after the election of Rob Brule, he signed the contract with Field Turf Inc, and the project was underway. 

The estimated $1 million project has completed the required steps of approval, and the Board of Education has pushed it through the approval of the Conservation Commision for permits, Planning and Zoning, the Board of Finance, and the Representative Town Meeting. Walker recites, “The process itself took around two years. The plan was given to many different committees. Once approved by Tom Giard, the superintendent, and confirmed with the softball committee, we had a plan to provide a field.”

The field also is multi-use for other teams. “Not only will our team have their own field to practice on, but other teams have access to it as well,” says Walker. Additionally, the turf may be used during off seasons for other teams. “Field hockey as well as other teams may use it for practice,” says Landry.