Photo courtesy of Brian McKean: Canby’s Armitage Field will have a new look beginning with the 2024 football season, thanks to renovations made as part of Canby Public Schools’ $22 million bond referendum, which passed Nov. 8, 2022. The Canby Lancers logo is shown in the center of the field. The Lancers will play their first varsity football game at the new arena on Friday, Sept. 6, against Lakeview. A new grandstand was installed on the opposite side of the field to make room for the new athletics facilities. According to Canby football coach Nick Cockelman, the northeast-facing bleachers also help keep spectators from having to look directly into the sun.
CAMBIE — With work already underway to lay the turf, Armitage Field will have a new look in 2024. With more turf fields being installed across the state, Canby is one of the latest school districts to install a turf football field.
The new field is part of a $22 million bond referendum that passed on Nov. 8, 2022. As part of the referendum, the ground beneath the field was re-flooded and re-graded earlier this summer before the turf was laid.
Canby football coach Nick Kockelman is excited to see the construction underway and looks forward to playing home games in the new arena.
The first varsity football game on the new field will be against Lakeview on Friday, Sept. 6. It will actually be the first middle school team to play on the new field, with that game scheduled the day before the varsity game.
“I think everyone is excited to be able to play on grass,” he said. As we get closer to completion, the kids are getting more and more excited. There were a lot of comments on the first day of practice. Our practice field is often hard and uneven, so being there throughout the week for practice will be a big benefit.”
Overall, Camby football will have a tough home schedule in 2024. In addition to their home opener against Lakeview, the Lancers will also host Minneota, Dawson Boyd and BOLD.
Of the three teams Canby will play at home this fall, Dawson Boyd (Canby’s homecoming opponent) has the worst record at 5-5 in 2023. The Blackjacks beat Canby 21-14 in Dawson last season.
One difference you’ll notice immediately when watching a game is that the main bleachers have been moved to the other side of the field, a move made necessary for space reasons.
“We couldn’t put bleachers on both sides of the field,” Cockelman said, “because we needed the space for athletics. But if we moved the bleachers to the other side, the fans wouldn’t have a direct view of the sunset.”
In addition to football games, the turf field and track can be used for physical education classes, and the Minneota/Canby softball team can also use the football field to host softball games in the spring when the field is in poor condition and weather can cause games to be postponed.
Area schools Russell Tyler Raton and Lakeview have also installed turf fields in recent years, and those schools provided Canby school officials with contacts to help explore how the space could be utilized.
“Having that perspective might have helped us gain some momentum or at least a solid understanding of how we could use it and sustain it,” Cockelman said.
Canby Public Schools Superintendent Ryan Nielsen said the finishing touches to the turf will be done soon: Silica sand is being used to fill the grass, followed by additional bags of rubber pellets.
A new eight-lane track is being installed around the football field at Armitage Field. The pits for field events are also located on the grandstand side of the football field.
The final touches are also being put into the new truck.
“The asphalt had to be allowed to cure for a month before the track surface could be laid over it,” Nielsen said.
The new track and field facility will allow the Canby/Minneota track and field team to host events in Canby during the spring season, not just the regular season but conference and section meets as well. The Lancers have traditionally been one of the top teams in Section 3A.
“I think the athletics program is very excited to have a full complex completed and be able to continue the success they’ve had in recent years,” Cockelman said.
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