Currently, there is a debate in Westfield about the state of the sports fields in the community. For example, some people believe there are many problems with turf in Westfield between there not being enough turf and not being good quality turf for sports teams to play on. Many schedule problems occur in Westfield because of the state of our turf. Although some claim that students have Kehler Stadium’s turf field to play on, there are no lights in the stadium. This means that there is only one field that has a limited schedule of use due to lighting issues. However, if we add turf to the back of Edison there will be a big change for the better.  Not only will we have an extra field for sports, but we can make multiple fields because of how much land there is.

Gym teachers agree that it would be a great idea to add turf behind EIS, because it would help not only teams but also the schools. “I think adding turf would be great. I think it’s something that’s much needed not only for the students here at Edison, but also the high school teams and also for the community as well,” Physical Education teacher Mr. David Tarullo claimed. 

Eighth grade social studies teacher Mr. Matt Vahrley also agrees that turf would be a good idea because it would serve sports teams and organizations in Westfield. Mr. Vahrley loves sports, and his wife teaches Physical Education at EIS as well. “I think putting turf behind Edison is a great idea. Because it would serve not only the school sports needs, but also provide an opportunity for other town organizations to use the field as well,” Mr. Vahrley exclaimed. 

Mr. Vahrley also thinks that lights would be a great addition to fields in Westfield, but the townspeople have to be considerate of the civilians that live close to the field because lighting can be very disturbing. “I think adding lights would definitely make the field more usable. However, I do understand that the lights are a concern for the people living around the school,” added Mr Varhley.

School Librarian Mr. Andrew Cusamano thinks that turf would be a great addition and would help middle school teams. “I think it’d be a great idea. I mean, obviously, there’s some concern for community members, but I think that wouldn’t be a really good asset for a lot of the high school sports teams and potentially the middle school teams like the baseball team,” remarked Mr. Cusamano.

On the other hand, Health teacher and school nurse Mrs. Patty Kelly disagrees with adding turf to Westfield fields.  “I think it’s way too much to add more turf to our fields. And then you have to think about the parking. You know we have this side lot that is used for both our staff and parking for Kehler Stadium, right?”  Mrs. Kelly questioned.

Not only will turf serve sports teams and schools but it will prevent people from getting their feet wet after a rain storm. “I walk through the back fields to get to school. I like walking around it just because my feet get wet all the time, but turf would probably fix that,” said eighth grader Jonathan Greeley. 

All in all, we should get turf in the back of Edison because it would benefit the Westfield Sports community and would impact students in a positive way.