School is starting right around the corner, and Martensville High School (MHS) is geared up and ready for academics and athletics as Wilson Field recently finished ‘phase one’ of its completion. The new Royals home-game field was put together through and through by the school community. The field was ready for use during the final days of the 2016 school season as members of the school community, teachers, parents and students alike, gathered to landscape the field laying over 175, 000 square feet (10 Super-B’s) of sod. A number of games of both MHS soccer and football were played on the freshly laid field last year with additional improvements to come as ‘phase one’ of the project was just recently completed over the 2017 summer. “I have thought about Wilson Field as having two phases. The first phase was to get it game ready – score clock, bleachers, fencing – and we are pretty much there. The second phase could include some additional facility pieces and enhancements, possibly lighting (the infrastructure/conduit for this is all in place under the fi eld), etc., but that will be for another time. My goal was to get phase one done for this year and we did,” said Past Principal of MHS, Brad Nichol.
The Nevco Score Clock, bought by Boston Pizza Martensville in 2016, was temporarily mounted to a large flat-deck trailer for use during last year’s athletic season. The score board has now been erected in its permanent location at Wilson Field. “This summer we worked with a number of very helpful and generous people who donated time and expertise to get it all mounted. Tara Riechert, from JC Kenyon Engineering approved the mounting plan. Shawn Lee (4L Bobcatting in Martensville) erected the support beams and mounted the clock and before the end of the summer, Ron Westmacott will be mounting the sponsorship signage (fabricated and donated by Precision Laser & Fabricating Inc) on the clock,” informed Nichol. “There is a ton of generosity and good will with this fi eld. It is really quite amazing and I can’t thank people enough.”
It was School Community Council member and MHS parent, Ryan Yuzik, who made it a personal priority to get the ball rolling on this project. Yuzik built a number of contacts and created some serious momentum to be sure that the clock would be erected for this sporting season. “The fence looks amazing and will be valuable both for containing the games and protecting the investment. The School Division suggested that chain link would be the best type of fencing for our needs. Once again, Wilson Field’s “angel donor”, Lyle Wilson, agreed to finance the fence, installed by Madsen Fence. Yet another incredibly generous gift from Mr. Wilson,” stated Nichol.
Martensville High School parent and owner of Second Nature Landscaping, Aaron Jalpert, became somewhat a steward for the field. Jalpert is constantly checking up on the irrigation system he installed and some time was recently spent with Mayor Kent Muench in order to broadcast fertilizer on the fi eld. KH Developments donated 40 yards of top soil for top dressing which was all generously delivered for free by Geransky. Recreation Director, Dave Bosch, will be supplying the manpower and machinery to spread the top soil.
As the school year draws near many plans are in the works as excitement grows for the upcoming sports season to be played on MHS’s brand new home game field. Currently a night game is being planned for the beginning of the football season by Della Muench of MHS. “It should be quite an event. Different parents, groups, and businesses are each sponsoring a rental of a portable light stand. Night games are very fun community events. This will be an extra special one,” stated Nichol.
“Wilson Field is the “icing on the cake” for Martensville High School’s recent expansion and renovation project. It will be an investment that will benefit students and the community for years to come. It has added so much value to the school and the community. It has been humbling, and incredibly rewarding to work on this project with such generous people. It’s the kind of thing you don’t get to be a part of very often,” said Nichol.
Note on featured image
There have been recent additions to Wilson’s Field, such as the score board and fence, in order to have it ready for the football season.