SCN field wins national honor
The St. Charles North baseball team hopes to win more titles with its play on the field this spring, but that field they are playing on already brought home an impressive award in the off-season.
The North Stars won a national award for "Field of the Year" given by Turface. Coach Todd Genke traveled to San Diego this winter to accept the award from the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Like St. Charles East, which has put a lot of effort into making its home field a beautiful place to play, and Marmion is opening up its new baseball field this year after playing on the road all last season, St. Charles North's boosters and coaches have invested a lot of time and resources into their home field.
And that is part of what makes this award to meaningful to Genke.
"It's very exciting," Genke said. "It's an opportunity to brag about the field but more importantly it is a chance to recognize all the wonderful people and private denotations and the school district and all the hard work that goes into maintaining it from year to year."
The North Stars put in their application for the award in November. They took pictures, submitted a page of why they like the field, and in December they found out that out of 280 schools in the country, they were one of the finalists.
A panel that included the head groundskeepers of the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds and University of Cincinnati chose the North Stars as the best.
Genke said the award has one added bonus - it makes it easier for him to make sure his players take good care of the field throughout the year.
"It's something you can hang your hat on, all the times they don't want to take care of the field after a doubleheader, now they'll get out there," Genke said. "The kids are really proud of it."
The North Stars also will get a chance to host a sectional on the field this spring.
St. Charles North opens its season March 31 at Plainfield Central before its annual trip south to play Marion, Warren, Granite City, Collinsville and Belleville East.