Arianna Peper
News/Opinion Editor
Kopplin Field renovations started Sept. 18, cutting off around a month of the women’s softball season.
Athletics director Jerry Collins said the renovations were decided a couple of years ago; however, it wasn’t until the 2022 vote on Prop S provided the funding that made him sure this would happen.
This last year the school has been working on plans for both Moss and Kopplin Field. They focused on the Moss Field planning first and then moved on to Kopplin Field planning. This summer, the school knew a rough timeline of when the renovations would begin, as it depended on the contract with the company they are working with.
Women’s Varsity softball coach Bryan Gibson said it was not until the first week of the season this fall that they knew it would impact their season so much by having construction start on Sept. 18. He said, “As soon as Coach Collins and the coaches met with the construction company in early August word started trickling out within hours to the players. We talked about it that afternoon at practice.”
JV softball player Micah McCoy, a sophomore, said, “It was kinda scary and such a shock. We had so many questions that couldn’t be answered so it created a lot of stress for the girls.”
Junior Emery McReynolds, who has been on Women’s Varsity softball since freshman year, said, “It was a sense of losing the place of home we had. We always had practices and games on the field so at first it really impacted us to not be able to have that anymore.”
With the field under construction, the players are now having their games at the Affton Athletic Association and practicing in either the multipurpose room at the high school or the fields at Givens Elementary School.
McCoy said, “Not having a home field has definitely caused some struggles for the team. For instance, JV has no buses to Affton for our games or practices and Varsity has to use a van.”
Gibson said, “There’s no doubt that we wish that we could have finished this fall season on our field before construction began. It is a real challenge on our time and energy to have to travel somewhere everyday to get our game or practice in. It was also hard to work through some of the emotion it takes to move out of a place that was a second home to many of us.”
Gibson said, “I’m extremely proud of our team and our coaching staff this year, though. They have accepted this challenge well and in some ways even turned it into an opportunity to celebrate the Webster softball program and draw positive attention to our team.”
Gibson said, “They have recognized some of the special people and moments from our past, and at the same time, have been working to teach our future players what it means to be a Statesmen Softball player.”
McReynolds said, “At first, we felt hurt and obviously sad about it but we found a way to use it as motivation for the team and I think that it ended up bringing the team closer together.”
McReynolds said that while at first, they only wanted the field back, she realized it will benefit the team to have a new field to play on in the future.
Collins said while he wishes the renovations didn’t impact the softball season. He believes that it worked out for the best since the renovations are expected to go until April 1, which is only impacting a part of the men’s baseball season. He said, “We are lucky with how it worked out. Neither team is losing all of their season, which could have been a possibility.”
Gibson said, “Having a dedicated softball field for our program has truly been special. It has been a good home for 20-plus years worth of Webster Softball players. This is a once in a lifetime … or once in a career …. opportunity to be a part of a field design project. From the coaching perspective, I’m excited.”
Gibson said, throughout the process, he’s kept in mind the importance of designing and building a place that the alumni are proud to return and a place that future athletes will be excited about playing at for the next few decades.
Collins said, “It is going to be great. Webster is finally going to have facilities that match, or even exceed, the other schools in the area.”
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Arianna Peper–News/Opinion EditorThis will be Arianna Peper’s first year on ECHO staff. She made several contributions while taking journalism class her freshman year. |
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