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Waukegan has its field of dreams
Updated: August 24, 2011 7:16PM
When Waukegan takes the field for its home football game on Thursday, Oct. 6, against Glenbrook South, it will be charging onto on the artificial-turf, lighted field at SportsPark.
That is the huge community park located at Beach and Green Bay roads on the far northwest side of town.
It was turned into an athletic complex by the Waukegan Park District and sits on land that was formely Orchard Hills Golf Course.
From the Waukegan football point of view, converting from golf course to athletic complex was a huge trade up.
The facility includes mostly soccer fields, plus a four-diamond baseball/softball complex, and the artificial-turf field which has been lined for soccer and sort of has been lined for football.
Because of a religious holiday, football the first week in October is being played on a Thursday instead of a Friday/Saturday.
In the past, when Waukegan has had a home game on this spot on the schedule, it’s brought in portable lights and played at the Waukegan football field on Lewis Ave.
But not this year.
Here’s some of what forward-thinking athletic director Sam Taylor had to say about the decision to play at SportsPark.
■ “We are renting bleachers to bring in. We’ll bring in a sound system. We’re providing all of the logistics, and we’re working with the park district to pull it all together.”
■ “It was one of those things that just came up. Talking with Nick (Waukegan High football coach Nick Browder), it was something he said he would be interested in and thought would be feasible.”
■ “It’s a great opportunity to utilize the resources the city has. We looked at the costs, and it’s a little bit more expensive to bring in stands to use up there (than to rent portable lights for the regular field), but nothing we couldn’t do. They have a great set of lights up there already. The community has put money into making it a really quality facility, this is a chance to put it to a good use.”
■ “We’re actually playing some soccer games up there too.
■ “Right now we’re set for around 2,000 fans. We have six sets of (portable) stands that hold about 1,500. Everybody seems to love night football. How many we get will depend some on other factors. If we’re 6-0, obviously that’s going to bring in a lot more people.”
■ “We have talked about it (playing all home games at SportsPark), but until they get stadium seating, it’s not really set up for us to use full time. This is kind of a trial run to see how well it works.”
■ (Regarding having no press box for coaches), “We’re going to designate areas at the top of the stands for each team.”
The one big problem fans will see immediately is going to be parking.
There are a lot of little lots around the various fields and diamonds, but as a general thought, it’s going to be a real haul to get from where you park your car to the football field.
Right now, the field is lined for soccer and football, but without numbers or other designs.
The field has goalposts. There is a scoreboard at the south end.
At the entrance is a small building with bathrooms and a small concession stand. There are two sets of lights on each side. For the moment, small sets of two-row bleachers line one sideline.
That, of course, will all be different on Oct. 6 when Glenbrook South comes to town.
That’s Game 7 of the season and might be the one the Bulldogs need to win to clinch a playoff berth.
So, circle the calendar now.
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