ALICE, Texas — More rain has been heading to the Coastal Bend as of late.
There's always the chance rain could disrupt a football Friday night. For some schools that have a grass field, it's an added obstacle if it rains.
The Alice Coyotes are one of those schools and they return home for a high-profile game in week eight. It's something that requires a lot of attention to survive the rigors of a fall season.
“City of Alice prefers a grass field and the kids really like it, it’s softer,” Kim Kubala said, Safety Coordinator for Alice Independent School District.
Memorial Stadium not only has one of the last natural grass fields, it’s also an award winning field.
From 2007 to 2011 and in 2020, the Texas Turf and Grass Association named it the Football Field of the Year.
More goes into it than you might think. All done by a team of four grounds crew members.
Kubala said on Mondays painting begins with the lines of the field. Tuesday, logo outlines are done in white. Wednesday is when the burnt orange is added in to logos. Then Thursday, the numbers are colored and again on Friday to make them pop for the game.
Now, that’s just the painting. There are several other maintenance things to work on.
The grass is cut two to three times a week. Using 17 sprinklers, the field is watered three times a week for 40 minutes at a time. If it's hot like it was all summer, it's watered almost every day. If the ground is hard, the crew needs to aerate it.
Then, there's the inspection of the field for things like holes and the biggest nuisance.
“Weeds. Every two to three months we do treatment, we do weed control, ant control, fertilizer and iron,” Kubala said.
“It means a lot that they actually care about our field," Diego Trevino, a senior center for the Alice Coyotes said. "They might not see it from us, but we really appreciate it. We have one of the best grass fields in the State of Texas.”
The Coyotes love coming home to that fresh cut grass.
“I love the grass field. You don’t really get turf burn and it’s just your hometown playing under the Friday night lights, in your hometown. And, the atmosphere in your hometown,” Trevino said.
The competition said grass is an added challenge.
“I think it’s different because whenever you run you step different," Jude Hernandez, a junior linebacker and running back for the Calallen Wildcats said. "The traction on a grass field is definitely a lot better than it is on a turf field. But, it also means you got to get your feet up more. And ,that’s not something a lot of people are used to.”
"It's a big difference for me, actually. It's kind of harder to run. It's a little thicker and taller grass. Turf is all the same, so grass is harder to run in," Luke Medina, Senior running back for Calallen said.
Alice will welcome Calallen to town in KRIS 6 News Week 7 Game of the Week. That game is Friday at 7:30 p.m. Highlights can be found during the Friday Night Fever immediately after the game.
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