District says Beatty football field should be ready in 2016

Barring any large natural disasters, the Beatty football team should be playing on their football field for the 2016 season.

The Nye County School District released its latest report concerning the football field at the last school board meeting on Nov. 17.

District Transportation and Maintenance Supervisor Cameron McRae wrote the report and said that the field should be ready to play on in 2016.

The football team has had to play two seasons on their baseball field as the Nye County School District has had to battle the desert elements to get new grass to take. Last year the seed washed away.

The school district report summarizes everything that had been done to the field by the contractor, Soil Tech Inc.

The company had determined that the soil was too "alkaline, which is not conducive to growing Bermuda or Fescue grass."

According to his report, the contractor hauled in over 800 tons of washed sand and mixed it with soil amendments before the hydroseeding could take place. This all happened in February and the seeding took place in May of 2015.

The report said the seed sprouted, but the seed coverage was still not as complete. By July the decision was made to apply more seed "with mixed results" and so it was done again but also with mixed results.

That's when the decision was made to not play on the field this year.

McRae's report said the extra time would allow the field to mature and "It is our hope that we will see significant improvement on the overall field condition by mid-summer."

According to James Revert, a football parent and local volunteer, the Beatty community has rallied and pulled together to help the school district get the grass in.

"There have been some weed pulling parties, where parents and football players have come to weed," he said. "I just want those night games to come back, so we get more parents out here to support the team for the games."

Revert said the grass is coming along and he agrees with the report.

"I think it's coming together and we will be playing on it," Revert said. "The district should be able to get the grass ready to play on."

-Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @vernheepvt