King Field is back.

The official opening ceremony for the newly redone King Field is scheduled for Friday, October 13 at 3:00 pm, the day of the Homecoming football game. The ceremony was scheduled for August 25, the day of the opening football game against Interboro, but was canceled due to weather conditions.

Last March, the field was approved by the school board in an 8-1 decision. The field was built in contract with FieldTurf USA for $1,120,000. Construction started May 15 and stretched into this school year’s preseason sports.

The field is used by a lot of the Haven sports programs, so having the turf ready for the school year allows for play to resume. The first game on the new turf was a boys’ Varsity Soccer scrimmage against West Chester East on August 22 that resulted in a 2-1 loss for Haven.

Overall, the soccer team had a positive outlook on the new turf.

“It’s very nice,” senior Nico Taylor said. “The grass is longer than it used to be, so the ball rolls normally. It used to fly across the field like a hockey puck. It is much easier to control now, much more like a regular game of soccer.”

The favorable feedback was not fully reciprocated by the members of the varsity girls field hockey team, however.

“It’s definitely a lot slower just because in terms of field hockey, playing on a flatter, rundown surface makes the game a lot faster,” senior Grace Kelly said. “So it’s definitely going to be interesting getting used to a new change of pace, but I do feel like the turf is a lot more supportive, in a sense of injuries.”

This year’s sports teams have a lot to adjust to, considering the new turf ’s difference from the old turf. However, both teams agree that they have a promising and exciting season ahead of them.

“It’s definitely difficult, but we’re learning to adapt to the longer turf so that way we have a home field advantage when other teams come and they’re not used to it,” senior Meredith Seidman said.