HEARNE, Texas — From a field of dirt to a field of dreams — Hearne ISD Athletic Director Ricky Sargent said the hands of time have transformed Wood Field for his student athletes.
- 15 ABC has followed Hearne ISD's re-construction of the nearly 100 year-old athletic stadium 'Wood Field' since March 2023.
- In January 2023, the district raised funds for the multi-million dollar project.
- In October 2023, grass was removed from the field area and leveled wirh dirt.
- In November 2023, the new 'turf field' installed, and December 2023 the track area was installed.
- The unveiling of the rennovated 'Wood Field' took place Monday, March 4, 2024
- A new Hearne ISD bond will determine when a new parking lot will undergo construction and locker rooms to be remodeled.
BROADCAST SCRIPT:
“My hope is that we have the entire community out here to see the great things that are happening,” said Hearne ISD Athletic Director Ricky Sargent to 15 ABC’s Chris Talley in October 2023.
From a field of dirt to a field of dreams, Sargent said the hands of time have transformed Wood Field for his student athletes.
“We talked about building a bridge for the youngsters to come across and now you look, and you see what has happened,” Sargent said.
For seniors like Omar Gonzalez, it's been a long journey.
“Every time it rained it would get really muddy and it would flood a lot on the edges. We would always take away games, so we would step on fields that weren’t even ours,” Gonzalez said.
And now, the Senior Soccer player finally gets to have his first home game on Monday evening. He told 15 ABC’s Chris Talley how it feels to be a part of the first team to kick off a new era of Hearne Athe.
“It gives me a good feeling that I get to be a part of this, we’re going to have our home crowd now and we are going to be able to defend our home,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez believes this is only the beginning for Hearne athletics.
“We have struggled a lot in the recent years, but for the future generations we would do it all over again knowing that they would have this field for them,” Gonzalez said.
