Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
NDSS Golden Hawks’ student-athletes will soon have a new “nest” for their running events.
Construction of the high school’s rubberized track is expected to begin next Tuesday, which just so happens to be the first day of class. After a lengthy search by Limestone District School Board, Strathmar Trenching was awarded the tender.
“With weather built in we anticipate that it’ll be done by Thanksgiving,” said NDSS principal Erin Pincivero. “If we get good weather the rubberization will take place after that, but they need 10 good weather days for that.”
If nature doesn’t co-operate, the final process could have to wait until spring.
Pincivero says replacing the worn out track has been a goal of hers since the day she arrived at the school.
“We’ve been busing our kids into Kingston to train at the Invista Centre, which is inconvenient and costs a lot of money,” said Pincivero. “To be able to provide those opportunities for our students right in Napanee is fabulous.”
“It doesn’t just benefit Napanee,” she added. “Our feeder schools would also be able to use the facility for their track meets and for training. Really we’re going to be the only rubberized track between Kingston and Belleville.”
Pincivero says the project really got going thanks to a $12,500 donation from the organizers of the Napanee Heritage Run.
“That really went a long way to help with the facility and made sure we had proper bleachers,” she said of the donation. “They really got the ball rolling on it and started the talk with the board and then the board realized they could do this.”
One drawback to the construction is that the football field will be unsuitable for the next two months, meaning the Golden Hawks football teams will have to play their entire KASSAA season on the road. Pincivero says the coaching staff has been great however, willing to make the sacrifice for the greater good.
“The kids deserve it,” she said of the new track. “It’ll be good to have it done so that someone like Carter Free (a KASSAA gold medalist long distance runner last year as well as OFSAA silver medalist) will have a fabulous track for his last season as a Golden Hawk. I think it’s really going to inspire young athletes to try track.”
Once the new track is in place she hopes to further upgrade the school’s track equipment by adding hurdles.
As for the colour of the new track, as spiffy as it may have looked, it won’t be navy blue and gold.
“I did a bit of research,” she said after she received plenty of requests to have it done in the school’s colours. “First off it’s much more expensive, so we’re not doing that. Also the darker colours fade over time.”
As a result, they went with the more traditional pink and white.