Over the last several weeks Pahrump Valley High School has been in the process of getting a new turf field laid down.
The new field, which is set to be done near the end of next week, will provide many positives compared to the previous turf field.
“It’s awesome for all of the programs,” Pahrump Valley football head coach Thom Walker said. “Our new field will have the Trojan head in the center, which is really awesome for school pride. It’s going to be pretty neat to be able to play on it.”
According to Walker, the new field will have a lower average temperature by roughly 30 percent.
“We took a meat thermometer out to the field last summer,” Walker said. “It read 174 degrees. That was the surface temperature. The molded cleats were separating from the shoes.”
I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to stand or practice on a surface that has a temperature that high.
The old field at the high school has been around for nearly 15 years.
The area used for football games has been completely finished, including maroon-colored end zones. The only portions left to be finished are the outer edges used for soccer games stretching the turf to the track.
In addition to laying down a new turf field, the school will also be redoing underneath the turf to make it easier and cheaper for future replacements.
The new subsurface of the field will be usable for the next 25 years before needing to be replaced and the new turf will be usable for the next 10 years.
Pahrump Valley fall athletic teams all have their summer workout programs underway. The football team practices Monday through Thursday from 6-10 a.m. on the practice field until the main turf field is finished.
The girls soccer team is currently practicing Tuesday through Thursday from 6-8 a.m. for the remainder of July.
Then, beginning July 31, the girls soccer team will switch to practicing Monday through Friday from 4-6 p.m.
Contact sports writer/editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com. Follow @_dannysmyth on Twitter.