On December 10, 2018, new soccer fields got approved by the board of trustees 5-2, according to News and Tribune,  however, the Bulldogs weren’t able to play on it until this 2020 season. 

Second year girls Head Coach Drew Stein says there are a few things to love about it. 

“New Albany did a great job with keeping the old grass field in good shape,” Stein said. “This new facility is in a better location, more accessible for families and the community, and overall is just extremely nice.”

The new field is located in front of the new Green Valley Elementary School, making it much closer to NAHS, Hazelwood, and Scribner. The old field was located behind Prosser.

Junior Chase Walters says the new field is better than the old one, he says he misses the shade that the trees brought at the old field. 

“The placement of the new field is great,” Walters said. “Back at Prosser we had almost no parking, plus we shared it with softball and it wasn’t a good setup.”

Junior Shalandria White agrees with Walters and loves the new field, but says she misses the memories the old one will forever have. 

“The placement is way better than the Prosser field,” White said. “It was so far away , this one is very close to a lot of people, so it’s a good walking distance if you don’t have a car.” 

Originally the facility was estimated to cost $3.5 million, but finished under budget, according to News and Tribune. The locker rooms and concession stand were reduced in size to lower the overall cost. 

Junior Ryne Blair says the new field turned out great and was excited and grateful to play on it for the first time. 

“There was a lot of work put into getting it, so to see it become a reality is really amazing,” Blair said. 

Senior Elise Gordon says she loves the look of the new field.

“The new field is excellent, the facility is pristine, clean and well-maintained,” Gordon said. “More trash cans or recycling bins can make the field even better.”

The new turf makes it so the soccer players have to play differently because they are used to the grass at the old Prosser field. 

“The old field had very tall grass so it made simple passes much harder, now that we’re on turf simple passes are simple,” Walters said. “The turf has affected how quick I play, turf just plays faster and I had to learn to move faster with the ball.”

Since the field is turf, Bulldogs have to be prepared mentally and physically when they play away games on turf, according to Coach Stein. 

“The ball moves much faster on the turf and bounces higher,” Coach Stein said. “So players have to adjust how they pass, receive, and move based on the speed. When we play away games on grass we have to adjust how we play.  This means we have to mentally prepare for very different styles of play at home and on the road.”

Both the girls and boys soccer teams have played on the new field. 

“There’s no question that this is our home,” Coach Stein said.