It seems like such a simple thing, but a few lines on a field are going to make a big difference for the Chilliwack Hawks.
The City of Chilliwack granted a request from the field lacrosse association, and spent Tuesday adding proper lines, change areas and creases to the turf at Chilliwack secondary school.
The lines are on there in permanent paint, and the Hawks are working out an arrangement with the city to use CSS as their home field.
“Its something I’ve been trying to work on for the past two seasons,” said Hawks president Tyler Crompton. “Unfortunately, when the four new turf fields were built around town (Townsend/Exhibition/CSS/Tzeachten), field lacrosse was not a prominent sport in Chilliwack and lines were not placed on the field.”
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Crompton said their initial requests were declined by the city, which feared painting lines on any of the turf fields after they’d been installed would void their warranty.
“We decided to do a little research and contacted some facilities around the Lower Mainland, and we discovered this has been done at numerous fields around B.C.,” Crompton noted. “When we went back to the city with the info we found, they did a little more research and quickly found a company to paint the lines.”
Crompton knows it’s not a given that they’ll be given CSS as their full-time home, but he said the new lines will make a world of difference for the three-year-old association.
“Until now we have been using portable creases that are expensive and don’t last more than a couple seasons, and cones which, as you could imagine, look very amateurish,” he said. “And it usually would take about 30 minutes to get the field set up by our volunteers each game.
“As for the kids, the little ones probably won’t know the difference. But for the older kids, being able to practice our clears and rides with lines on the field will be huge for their development.”
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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