Athletic renovations to give Conant facilities new look
Courtesy of Conant Athletics
When Conant students and staff returned to school Aug. 13, instead of seeing baseball and softball fields behind the school, they saw a construction zone. That was not the only change behind the school, as the tennis courts were redone as part of a district-wide project.
The tennis courts are now decorated in the school’s navy and red colors. According to Athletic Director John Kane, Conant is one of only a few schools in the nation to have this color scheme.
Varsity girls’ tennis player Grace Park, ‘19, said, “I really like them. The old tennis courts before — they had some cracks in them, so we didn’t play as well as we probably could now. So it’s super nice to play on them, and they’re super pretty, too.”
It only took this summer to redo the tennis courts. However, that won’t be the case for the baseball and softball fields, which were torn apart at the beginning of this summer. The fields will not be ready until the beginning of next school year, according to Kane, which means no baseball or softball will take place on Conant’s campus this spring.
Kane said that he knows for sure that some of the Conant baseball games will be played at Harper College but knows Conant will have to work around Harper’s team’s schedule. Conant might also host games at Fabbrini Park in Hoffman Estates and the Schaumburg Boomers Stadium. Kane added that varsity baseball will probably practice at Fabbrini Park.
Conant head baseball coach Derek Fivelson said he believes his team can manage not being able to play at home. “It’s just another challenge that us coaches and players need to embrace and accept as an opportunity,” he said.
For softball, it’s a similar situation. Kane said that some of their games will also take place at Harper, but their practices will take place across the street at Polk Branch Park. Other possible sites for them to host games are at Fabbrini Park, Olympic Park in Schaumburg, and at the Stadium at the Ballpark in Rosemont, where the Chicago Bandits play.
Once the baseball and softball fields are completely finished, the stadium’s artificial turf and track will also be renovated. “It’s going to be a completely new turf, but it’s going to be vibrant,” Kane said. The turf will have the Conant “C” in the middle, as well as “Conant” written in one end zone and “Cougars” written in the other.
Additionally, the turf will alternate between light green and dark green every five yards, according to Kane. During turf renovations, the track will also be resurfaced. Kane expects these renovations to be done during the summer of 2020.
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