The Kingston City School District’s (KCSD) fall sports season is its first in several decades without access to Dietz Stadium, currently in the midst of a comprehensive renovation project. So where are sports being played? And what should friends, family and friends expect when they cheer on the Tigers this season?
Fortunately, the KCSD has put together an athletics spectator’s guide, which includes information about seating (bleachers are limited, so BYO Lawn chair!), parking, scoring (there will be scoreboards at each field!) and restrooms (superintendent Paul Padalino assured that the old port-a-potties are gone, replaced by trailer bathrooms!)
There is also a supplemental guide to fall 2023 field locations. Some fall sports haven’t been impacted by the Dietz project, like girls’ varsity swimming and diving, which takes place in the Kingston High School (KHS) pool as always. The same is true for volleyball, with both varsity and JV in the familiar Kate Walton Field House setting, and modified in the M. Clifford Miller Middle School gymnasium. Girls’ varsity tennis is happening at the KHS tennis courts. And cross country will take place at the Miller Middle School trail.
Other sports are another matter. Field hockey home games, traditionally played at Dietz Stadium, will now take place at Field #5 at Miller, while both JV and modified will happen at Gruner Field on the same campus. Both boys’ and girls’ varsity soccer will be played on either fields #2 or #5 at Miller, JV on field #1 at Miller, and modified on field #1 at Chambers Elementary.
Junior varsity and modified football will play home games in the district on field #4 at Miller, but varsity football fans will have to hit the road due southeast for “home” games at Rondout Valley High School.
In an interview with Hudson Valley One, Padalino said much of the spectator experience was guided by the public during the Spring 2023 season. While the district’s struggles to keep its sports and practice fields in good shape grabbed the headlines in the spring, school officials were also listening to other pieces of advice.
One area that was critical to the fan experience at temporary playing fields was the need for a visible scoreboard and lights. This fall, there are enough of both to go around.
“We were running around trying to bring scoreboards from place to place (last spring), and some places didn’t have them, and it was just crazy,” Padalino said. “So getting extra scoreboards, and having lights up, is just, I won’t say as close to Dietz as we could get, but we tried to make it at least feel like they were in a proper venue to play for their fall sports season.”
Padalino said a phys-ed teacher at Miller has been enlisted to set up the fields to ensure everything is in place — scoreboards, lights, water — before games.
The district didn’t have to make any infrastructure changes for their varsity football team to feel like they’re playing in a proper venue, but with Rondout Valley technically an away field, there will be touches of home at Tigers games.
“We’ve got Kingston High banners up there and we’ve got signs telling people where they need to go and where to park and all that kind of stuff,” Padalino said.
Meanwhile, back in Kingston, the district seems to have tackled some of the conditional issues that plagued their spring season, with work done over the summer to get fields across the KCSD in tip-top shape. The efforts have not gone unnoticed.
“It’s been received really well this year,” Padalino said. “I’ve heard through a few of (the parents who spoke out in spring) and they were much happier with how things are this year than how they were last year. But I think one of the things is to make sure people know, we know this isn’t perfect.”
Varsity playing fields in the district should stay in shape as they’ll be used exclusively for games only, with practices taking place on other fields. It’s part of the district’s efforts to make the most of a challenging year before they’re able to return to a new and improved Dietz Stadium a year from now.
“I compare it to Kingston High School’s construction where we went through four years of construction during the school day, which really wasn’t convenient for kids either,” he said. “But the end product was our new high school. And I’m thinking that the end product is going to be improved a much better Dietz Stadium with better capacity for practices, for games, for all those things.”
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