Mona Shores HS installs new turf at Sailor Stadium
NORTON SHORES, Mich. — In the winter of 2021, the Mona Shores Board of Education approved the sale of FCC licenses that would net $750,000 for the school district. This deal allowed the district to address a longstanding need for the athletic department, an artificial playing surface at Sailor Stadium, the home of boys and girls lacrosse, the mighty Sailor Marching Band, and the two-time state championship football program. For the past two decades, the natural grass field has been rife with various problems, such as pests and disease, that have led to visible damage to the field on an annual basis. With an increased use of the facility in the cold months of November and March, the time had come to create a more durable playing surface that could be used throughout most of the calendar year. At the April 12th, 2021 board meeting, it became official: plans would begin in earnest for a turf field.
Construction began on May 16th, 2022 and by the beginning of August, the field was ready for inspection. The incredible speed at which the project was completed was, in no small part, due to local contractor Ben Hylland of Wood Trucking, a Mona Shores alumnus. Football and band began practicing on the surface right away and on Wednesday, August 24th, the Sailor community came together for a ribbon cutting ceremony at which Superintendent Bill O鈥橞rien commended former Director of Technology Director Lane White, who passed away in 2018, for having the foresight to purchase the licenses that precipitated the financial windfall that made the project possible.
Two days later, on Friday, August 26th, the 60th football team from Mona Shores played Manitowoc-Lincoln from Wisconsin in what was dubbed the 鈥淏attle of the Badger鈥� for the first-ever varsity game played on the turf at Sailor Stadium. In attendance were over twenty members of 鈥淭eam One,鈥� the first Sailor football team from 1963, They were treated to a pre-game dinner and afterward, watched 鈥淭eam 60鈥� beat Lincoln 48-20 while wearing 鈥渢hrowback鈥� jerseys bearing last names of 鈥淭eam One.鈥澛� After the game, current players gave their game jerseys to the men who wore that number during the first season of varsity football.
To cap off the evening, it was Coach Matt Koziak鈥檚 100th win as head coach. It was truly a night to remember for Sailor Nation.
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