The arrival of the fall sports season may be considerably more special for the students and coaches at Oxford High School.
The school’s varsity football team and its boys and girls varsity soccer squads will play their home games on the school’s Quaker Farms Road campus for the first time.
The news comes after school and town officials decided to use two practice fields for the games.
Development of the two multi-purpose fields cost less than $800,000, paid for with money allocated through a 2007 town referendum.
The football goal posts have already been put up and the sod for the fields will be planted this week, said Oxford High School Athletic Director Glen Lungarini.
“The athletes are very excited about it,” Lungarini said. “It gives a little more of a sense of pride for what they’re practicing for.”
The fields are an important piece for the 3‑year-old high school, which will host its first class of seniors when classes start in September.
The first varsity girls soccer game will be held on Sept. 15. The first home boys soccer game will be Sept. 18 against Bethel. The first varsity football game will be against Stratford on Oct. 3.
Last season, the Oxford football team played its home games at Pomperaug High School in Southbury. The soccer teams played their games at the Oxford Glen.
While the fields should be good for a while, Lungarini and others still want to pursue a larger multi-purpose field.
In 2007, residents rejected spending about $3.5 million on a multi-purpose football field with an associated running track.
First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers said she has asked the Oxford High School Building Committee to work on another football field proposal, but at a less expensive cost.
Drayton-Rogers said she doesn’t have a projected cost estimate.
“It may have been delayed, but it’s still an important issue,” Drayton-Rogers said. “It may be delayed right now, but it doesn’t mean it has dampened the spirits or the intentions of building a football field.”
Lungarini said it would be important to have a synthetic turf field, which would make it possible to play football and other sports. It will also make it possible to host state high school playoff games and tournaments.
