By: Molly M. Fleming – The Journal Record
Before spring 2013, anyone who drove by Jefferson Middle School would have noticed an adjacent large, pasturelike field at S. Blackwelder Avenue and SW 70th Street. Missing were cows or goats to keep it maintained.
It wasn’t agricultural land, however. It was the field where the school’s football and soccer teams practiced. To the northeast of that field was a backstop with overgrown grass where the baseball team practiced. The home plate had gravel around it and there was a drainage ditch between second and third base. The softball team didn’t have any facilities.
“It wasn’t something that the kids could be proud of,” said Keith Sinor, athletic director for Oklahoma City Public Schools. “They had space. It was not a good safe, environment.”
The nonprofit organization Fields and Futures took on the soccer/football, baseball and softball fields as its first project. The group spent $190,000 redoing the three fields, with another $110,000 contributed from the school district and vendors.
Cimarron Construction Vice President Tommy Noble and his crews overhauled the soccer/football and baseball fields, and built the softball facility. Noble said the football field was 2.5 feet out of level. His team brought in new top soil, installed irrigation, and covered it in sod grass. The Wes Welker Foundation provided a grant for the football field goal posts and other equipment at the softball and baseball complex.
“We really only went to do the football/soccer field, then the dream started and didn’t we leave until we did the softball and baseball field,” Noble said.
The baseball and softball complex required a little more work, with the addition of dugouts and a fence around both fields. The baseball field has dirt infield baselines and a mound. All three fields were completed by spring 2013. Cimarron Construction has an entire team dedicated to redoing all 44 fields in the Oklahoma City Public Schools district.
The work of Fields and Futures hasn’t stopped, with more fields throughout the district slated for restoration. The organization’s belief is if the fields are restored, more students will become involved in sports. The sport involvement is expected to fuel higher graduation rates in the OKCPS since student athletes are more likely to stay in school and attend class.
At Jefferson Middle School, the field upgrades have generated a boost in athletics. Ivan Esau, head coach and school resource officer, said he previously had less than 50 students try out for the team, often ending the season with 17 students or less. This year, 125 boys tried out for the school’s football team. Esau cut it down to 67 players.
“A lot of the kids – even if they have no idea what they’re doing – they all want to play,” he said. “I definitely say
one of the biggest reasons (for the large turnout) is the fields. They play better when they look better and feel better. The field has brought up the morale and made it easier to build a team.”
The football/soccer field has become a community place as well after school, attracting practices by semipro football and soccer teams, as well as neighbors walking the perimeter. The football teams do not play their games at the fields. But with bleachers at the softball and baseball complex, neighbors and families are coming to watch those games and the soccer team.
Sinor said the updated complexes around the district have helped retain students as well. He said with Moore Public Schools district lines not far from south Oklahoma City, student athletes’ families would move to that district because the facilities were better.
“Now, we take away that obstacle,” he said. “We provided them a field. We are providing them the very best. I think they’re beginning to stay, as before they might leave.”