Byron has a new look all across its athletic department, including around its football field.
Byron will have a new look on the football field this year ― and a new look all around it as well.
And it's not just the football team at Byron.
"It's definitely causing a buzz around the community," Byron athletic director Jeff Milburn said of all the different renovations going on in and around the high school. "This is a new foundation for the kids and our community. This our new front porch."
By the time the football season kicks off on Aug. 28, the Byron Tigers will have a newly renovated home waiting for them. Same goes for the girls swim and dive team.
Byron was the defending state champions in football when a failed 2-pointer with 10 seconds left sent the Tigers home with a 14-13 second-round road defeat to Lombard Montini last postseason. They graduated 15 seniors and will return only about half the starters on both sides of the ball.
But that loss ― and a sweet, new home ― will keep them hungry coming back.
"Everybody is pretty pumped," head football coach Jeff Boyer said.
They will open the football season on the road on a Thursday (Aug. 28) against one of the Big Northern Conference's worst teams year in and year out, Rock Falls. But they will certainly have a little more motivation to head home Sept. 5 when they host Dixon in their newly renovated stadium.
"It was time," Boyer said. "I'm just looking forward to it. Playing in this new stadium on a Friday night is just exciting to think about."
Here is what Byron has done to improve its football playing and viewing experience, and what it's done to its outdoor track and field facilities:
- New bleachers on both sides
- Now the home team side of the field is on the other side, facing away from the sunset
- ADA upgrades
- A new video scoreboard
- A new press box
- Turf on the sidelines
- A new track
- New locations and equipment for the field events
And that's not all. Byron has also upgraded its swimming pool, which will get plenty of use as the girls swim and dive team kick off the school year this fall.
"There's been a lot of work going on for awhile," Milburn said. "And pretty soon everybody is going to see what all the hard work has been about."
Here are the non-football renovations for Byron:
- New tiled deck around the pool
- New paint job around the pool
- New starting blocks for the pool
- New showers and upgraded locker rooms for several sports
- A new video scoreboard for the pool
- New press boxes, concession stands and other additions around the baseball, softball complex
The upgrades to the baseball and softball complexes for Byron has been done in two phases over the course of nearly a year. But it is almost complete, and it includes work in and around Joe Parks Athletic Complex that hosts soccer games as well.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at [email protected] and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Here is where Byron High School improved its athletic facilities
Category: General Sports
