Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Lawrence High School football team played its first “home” game at Fireman’s Field, in Valley Stream, against North Shore High School last Saturday.
The artificial-turf field at the high school was deemed unplayable by turf inspectors on the second day of school, after barely passing inspection in July.
The turf was installed in 2010, two years after Lawrence school district voters passed a $1 million referendum to replace the grass field at the high school with turf. It was part of a $16 million, district wide 2008 capital improvement plan that included other renovations of district athletic fields, including new drainage, irrigation and seeding at the football practice field.
On Sept. 10, Superintendent Ann Pedersen sent a letter to the school community, informing residents of the board’s decision to “temporarily close the Lawrence athletic field” to conduct additional testing and evaluation.
“It’s important to note that the replacement of the high school field is already included in a multi-million-dollar FEMA-funded infrastructure project, which is currently in the final stages of review and approval,” Pedersen wrote, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “We are optimistic that this project will move forward shortly, allowing us to make the necessary upgrades in the near future.”
Pedersen said that the school and the board are dedicated to their athletes, and are always looking to improve their facilities. “This particular situation is contingent on this FEMA project,” she said. “We’re at the goal line and very close to finding out if the project gets approved and what it involves. There is no particular number of months and we knew once the project started, the field would need to be relocated temporarily.”
She explained that the second testing was undertaken out of “an abundance of caution.”
“I know this is highly emotional for people,” she added. “We love our kids and love them in their blue and gold but ultimately we’re not putting anybody in danger and we have to make decisions based on safety. The kids will have great games and the new location will become a second home.”
The team will play at Fireman’s Filed until further notice, as Section VIII Athletics — the governing body of high school sports in Nassau County — approved it.
“If the field is condemned, we won’t let any Section VIII activities go on that field until it passes inspection,” Patrick Pizarelli, executive director of Section VIII Athletics and a former athletic director in the Lawrence district, said. “Eight to 10 years is the life of the turf, so that tells you that it should have been done.”
Pizarelli left the district 10 years ago, but initially played a prominent role in the transition from grass to turf.
“It was well overdue,” he recalled. “Land Tek did the work on that, and it was a blessing, because you don’t need to worry about the weather when you have turf. Even though we had a pretty good grass field, having the turf was a great idea.”
Its upkeep, however, is a big job, Pizarelli added, and at this point, the turn needs to be replaced for safety reasons. “As an athletic director, if I was still there, I would be pushing them to get it done,” he said. “Now, in my role here, I make sure we keep all our athletes safe, and if a field is said to be unsafe and doesn’t pass inspection, we will not play Section VIII sports on those fields.”
Michael DeRosa, a member of Lawrence High’s class of 1978 and a prominent supporter of the football team, said the field has been overdue for repair.
“They never expected it to pass inspection this year,” DeRosa said. “Somehow, in July, it passed, and we thought it was great.”
The team practiced on the field all summer, but was informed two weeks ago that it was not fit for play.
“Not only does this affect the football team, but there are four soccer teams that use the field,” DeRosa added. “It’s just thrown everything into a tizzy.”
He described it as a step backward for the football program. “This is totally demoralizing them,” he said. “We’ve done a lot this summer with alumni support, we fed them, got them T-shirts, Gatorade and a lot to improve the turnout. They have a really good following, and this is just another setback.”
Another Lawrence football alumnus, John Galante, class of 1972, has supported the team over the years, and helped out at practices. “The district has a great history of excellent athletics overall — football in particular, historically, has been successful for many years,” Galante said. “The program has dropped (in) the past years due to declining enrollment, but the coaches and the team are working really hard to have a great year. It’s really inspirational to see the work that they’re doing.”
