New football fields ready to take on Arlington's youth
Are you ready for some football?
With area high school programs already under way, this weekend signals the start of youth football. Nowhere is that more exciting than in Arlington Heights, where officials will unveil two new football fields developed with the help of state grant money.
The varsity and junior varsity levels of the Arlington Cowboys play their first games Saturday at a pair of 100-yard fields developed at Sunset Meadows Park, adjacent to the park district's driving range at Dwyer Avenue and Kirchoff Road.
They play in the Northwest Youth Football League, which takes in teams from Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect, Palatine and Schaumburg, so all of those teams will play on the new fields at some point during this season.
"This is the nicest youth football facility in this area and beyond," said Hal Zabrin, president of the Cowboys. "I told the players and parents that they likely will not be playing on better fields unless they make it to the NFL."
Arlington Heights Park District officials developed the new fields with the help of a $400,000 Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Grant from the state of Illinois.
The grant, and its matching funds, also covered the construction of a new playground, walking path around the entire venue, and garage and storage building, which should be completed next spring.
Park district officials worked to accommodate the needs of the Arlington Heights Youth Athletic Association, which this year drew a record 630 youngsters to sign up for flag and tackle football.
They stop short of comparing it to an NFL field, but they are beaming with pride, nonetheless.
Crews are installing goalposts this week, as well as permanent electronic scoreboards. The lights illuminating the fields were installed last spring. But the real jewel in the crown of the fields, officials say, is the turf.
"The turf condition is really excellent," said Jim Glueckert, recreation and facilities director, who moonlights as a high school football referee for the Illinois High School Association. "We've graded it and top dressed it, and given it a really good long grow-in season."
Six teams have been practicing on the new fields since early last month, of the 26 tackle teams that the Cowboys field. The better to keep them pristine, Zabrin added.
The rest of the teams practice at nearby Pioneer Park, where the Cowboy program has played for the last 43 years.
On Saturday that changes, when they begin a new era playing upper level games at Sunset Meadows Park, nearly non-stop, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., under the new halogen lights.
"We are extremely grateful to the park district for our new home," Zabrin said. "And we can't wait to host our first home games there."