At the end of May 2022, the town broke ground on the Bethel Athletic Department’s newest addition: a turf field. The majority of the site work happened before the end of last school year and the project was completely finished in October of 2022.
The Bethel schools hosted a grand opening ceremony in October, and they used the surface for games this past fall, starting with soccer and field hockey. Mark Caron, the Bethel High School Athletic Director says, “It’s a really unique field and aesthetically, I would say it’s one of the nicest in our conference.” The turf will be used for soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, softball, and baseball, with football remaining on the grass field next to the high school.
Caron says that the student response has been wonderful and that having an additional playing surface opens more opportunities for students and flexibility to the athletics schedule. Spring sports will be in full swing in April with plans to have freshman/JV baseball and softball games on the turf, and varsity on the traditional fields. The Lacrosse team will be using the turf mostly on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the season.
Additionally, the turf is open for residents to use when it is not being used for school athletics. The Athletics Department requests that anyone who wishes to use the turf for general recreation be respectful of the space. Please clean up after yourself and be mindful of others who are using it, too. To check out this spring’s athletics schedule, you can visit the Bethel Athletics website. There are cameras installed to monitor activity on the turf field. Caron continues, “We are hoping to add lights over the summer to really expand upon its usability.”
The field truly is a wonderful addition to the town – it looks absolutely stunning. If you haven’t yet gone to take a look at it, do so soon so you can see it for yourself! If you haven’t been to the athletic complex before, the best way to access the field is by either parking behind the high school and following the paved access road down to the turf, or, you can park at the middle school and walk along the front of the building until you get to the field.
Caron wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you to the donor group who made this beautiful new turf field possible. The donor is anonymous – but whoever it is, we would like to echo Mr. Caron in our gratitude for bringing this wonderful asset to Bethel!
