Boone likes the feel of turf

When the fall sports season rolls around, most high school football fields take a beating.

Multiple Pop Warner teams, and junior varsity and varsity squads rip up natural grass on a weekly basis. The result is a surface that slows down play, can produce injuries, and can be difficult to properly drain during rainy weather.

Boone High School boosters and fellow community citizens had seen enough following the 2016 season and took action. On Tuesday, the Boone football program held its first practice on its new brand-new artificial turf field.

“I am very excited about Boone,” Boone High coach said. “Our entire community came together for this project. We raised the money as a community for this project. Everyone is very proud.”

Johnson said the new surface for Dr. Norton Baker Field was long overdue. It is the venue for the South Orlando Braves Pop Warner team and Boone’s JV and varsity football teams, as well as for soccer and lacrosse.

“The field has been in dire need of being replaced since I arrived in 2013, but I’ve coached many games here prior to that, and the field was never in great shape,” Johnson said.

Johnson said no loans were taken out for the construction of the field.

Boone becomes the latest Central Florida school to install artificial turf, joining a list that includes Lake Brantley, Bishop Moore, Lake Mary, Oviedo, West Orange, Winter Park and Celebration, which also debuts its artificial field this season.

“This project is absolutely worth it,” Johnson said. “With the traffic our fields take between high school contests, youth sports, practices and so forth, grass fields are not very viable options anymore.”

The South Orlando Braves are scheduled the turf at to host a jamboree on Saturday, Aug. 26, at the new field.

Boone’s varsity team hosts Lake Nona on Friday, Sept. 1, in its first game on the new surface.

After four-plus as a track pro, Boone alum has turned his attention back to football and is bidding for a second professional career.

Bracy, who reached the 100-meter dash semifinals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, was signed as a wide receiver by the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL earlier this month.

Bracy excelled at both sports at Boone and attempted to do both at FSU before turning pro as a sprinter following his redshirt freshman year.

He won three consecutive U.S. indoor 60-meter dash championships (2014-16) and was a silver medalist in that event at the 2014 World Indoor Championships.

Bracy said in a press conference following his first practice with the Colts last week that it was his passion for football that prompted him to step out of the starting blocks and back onto a football field.

“I walked away from a consistent track contract, in which I was making a great living, to pursue another dream,” he said.

Former Kissimmee Osceola track state champ and USC sprint standout

representing the Bahamas, was a women’s 20-meter dash finalist in the women’s 200 at the IAAF World Championships in London.

She ran a 22.85-second time to advance to the final, where she crossed in 23.30 for eighth place. years