by Jose Gomez

After months of work, the newly renovated backfields opened at Woodbridge High School in mid-September.

The plan to redo the backfields had been in discussion for the past two years. The decision was officially approved last January by the Board of Education.

The project was made possible by Mayor McCormac’s PILOT program. PILOT, which stands for Payment in Lieu of Taxes, is a promotional plan which encourages businesses to come to Woodbridge and lease land. The payments received from these companies goes directly towards public township improvements.

Principal Lottmann had long wanted to improve the backfields. “When I was coaching here, those fields were condemned. One time, I was kicking the ball with a player, and the ball disappeared. Where’d the ball go? It was in a ditch, in the field,” he said. “You know how I feel about this school being the best, so I did the best for our students.”

The soccer and softball fields opened just in time for the Boys’ and Girls’ Soccer seasons. The baseball field will be ready for the start of the season in March.

Sophia Gomez, senior member of the Girls’ Soccer team, said, “It’s amazing to have a new field to play and practice on. It’s really helped us this season. It’s just sad I only have it for one year.”

The turf used in the fields was designed by FieldTurf, and makes WHS the first school on the east coast to have it. Not only does it feel more like grass than the turf used in the football field, but it drains rainwater right through, greatly reducing the possibility of rainouts.

A new concession stand and field lights are also being built in the backfields. “Our facilities are on par now with just about any high school in the state of New Jersey,” Mr. Ward, the school’s Athletic Director, said. “We should be very proud of what we have here at Woodbridge High School.”