By Randy Stevens
San Marcos — These are the kinds of growing pains that San Marcos High School athletic director and head football coach Steve Van Nest doesn’t really mind enduring.
On Aug. 6, when the SMHS football team steps on the practice field for the first day of preseason workouts, there will be numerous changes. In fact, everything will be new, as the Rattlers move into a new high school that includes new locker rooms, practice fields, facilities and offices.
Aside from the distresses of moving equipment, computers, supplies and various other things, Van Nest and his football staff are paying close attention to how well the grass comes in on the two new practice fields. The recent wet weather has made it difficult for construction crews to sod all of the athletic fields.
“You move into facilities, there’s always going to be growing pains,” Van Nest said. “But in the long run it’s going to catch us up and puts us on a more level playing field with other schools.”
The fields will be handed over to the athletic department on Aug. 6, and the Rattlers will be practicing regardless if the grass is completely ready or not. But the practice field was seeded instead of sodded, meaning the grass will likely be ready in time.
“We’re practicing here no matter what because there’s really no other place for us to go,” Van Nest said. “But I’m sure it will be ready to go by then.”
Despite the slowdown produced by the rain, the rest of the school’s athletic facilities are taking shape. The gymnasiums (a main gym and an auxiliary gym) are complete, along with the weight rooms, coaching offices and locker rooms. Each sport has it’s own locker rooms, while boys and girls assistant coaches have their own offices. There’s also a very roomy athletic training area, complete with an exam room and office for the school’s trainer.
The main gym, which embraces much more natural sunlight than The Snake Pit at the old campus, has seats for 1,800 fans and can be split into two full courts when the bleachers are rolled up. The auxiliary gym can also be split into two full courts.
And as expected, the gyms are embodied with purple, the school’s color.
Outside, the athletic fields are all grouped together, with a concession stand/restrooms/press box building in the center. The concession stand and rest rooms will cater softball, baseball and soccer fans in the spring, and soccer and subvarsity football in the fall and winter. The press box on the upstairs level allows for good views of all four fields and will be equipped with a new sound system.
The subvarsity football field and track facility will hold 1,000 fans (700 on home side, 300 on the visitor’s) while the softball and baseball stands will hold 500 each. The soccer field has one set of bleachers that will hold 300 fans.
Also, to accompany the regulation track, there will be two shot-put pits, two discus rings, two long- and triple-jump pits, as well as two pole-vault pits.
Both the softball and baseball field have roomy dugouts, each with a small space set aside for the scorekeeper. There is also a lot more room in foul territory in both fields, compared to the old, and each field has it’s own batting/pitching cage for home and visitor.
“We’re excited about the new facilities we have got and it’s going to be challenging for a little while. When you first move into a place, there are going to be a lot of little things that come up,” Van Nest said. “But the main thing is that we are going to have a lot more space here. Everybody’s got more room and we’re not going to be on top of each other. So it’s going to benefit all the different programs. It will probably take a year to get used to actually how to do things, It’s really going to benefit us in the long run, so we’re excited.”
While the athletic facilities will be christened on Aug. 6, the main campus officially opens on Aug. 20, the first day of school.
