Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Rocket athletics has a lot to be excited about.
It’s no secret that the local football and volleyball teams are currently in the midst of successful seasons and have realistic hopes of going for a state championship this fall.
Beyond 2023, however, Rocket athletes can also look forward to a new and much more versatile practice area.
New Rockford-Sheyenne Athletic Director, Elliott Belquist, said trees have been removed and new grass is growing immediately west of the existing football and baseball field on the south end of New Rockford.
And as soon as next spring, the NR-S Track & Field program could, for the first time, have the ability to practice their respective events on a dedicated practice area.
By next summer, the field should also be ready to become the new practice location for NR-S/M football.
It’s all part of a bid to level up NR-S athletics, which has been thriving recently despite less-than-ideal means of practice.
“We’ve had problems with our practice field in North Park with growing grass and getting flooded out, so we thought it would be a good idea to rip some trees out and move it to the west side of the [Jim Johnson Memorial Field] and have it closer to our other facilities.”
Last year, Belquist said he and others went out to the new location – which is on land owned by the New Rockford Park District – and got to work removing trees and getting the area leveled off.
Belquist said everyone that helped out was willing to volunteer their time and equipment for the project, and he expressed his gratitude for all the help getting the new field ready for Rocket athletics.
Among those lending their time and/or equipment were Reed Weisenburger, Brett Allmaras, Preston Weisenburger, Carter Richter, Ryan Hager, Levi Weber, Casey Weber, Elliott Belquist and Josh Langley. CenDak Cooperative also donated grass seed and spread it onto the field.
The original hope was to see the field ready for this year’s football season, and although that didn’t quite happen, Belquist said grass is now growing in nicely and that the field should be in good shape next spring.
The new location should certainly be an improvement over the Rockets’ current football practice field, but no program is likely to benefit more than track and field – athletes of which should finally be able practice their events somewhere other than a make-shift area or the school hallway. They’ll have access to equipment and facilities dedicated for practicing various events.
“One thing that’s in the works now is we're gonna build a 100-yard two-lane straightaway where we can do sprints and get out of the hallway here in the school,” said Belquist. “So we can put spikes on and do sprints on that, and then on one side there’s gonna be a pole vault pit, and on the other side will be a long-jump/triple-jump pit.”
Belquist said the hope is to have all those practice areas ready in time for the coming track season, in addition to an area for practicing shot-put and discus.
He added that the Carrington school district is generously providing their old pole vault pit to the Rockets, who haven’t been able to participate in pole vault without the necessary equipment for practice.
Long-term, Belquist said the hope is to build a new structure at the practice field to serve as a nice locker room and storage area for their equipment, though there are no immediate plans to do so.
All together, the Rockets’ new practice field will be a significant upgrade to an already thriving athletics program, and promises to boost the progress of youth athletes as they begin their athletic careers.
Helping to fund the track and field programs' new equipment and practice area is NR-S Track and Field Health and Wellness, a new booster club. Anyone interested in donating is encouraged to reach out to Josh Guler, Scott Granger, Becki Schumacher, Deb Belquist or Elliott Belquist.
