The student athletes of De Soto High School have a lot to look forward to with new additions like softball, baseball and soccer fields as well as a newly refurbished and much larger football stadium.

DHS has started construction on new softball, baseball and soccer fields. This is a part of the third and final phase of USD 232’s bond project. Also a part of this phase is a complete overhaul of the football stadium.

Athletic director Ryan Johnson said the increased seating capacity will benefit the students and the De Soto community.

“It will benefit the community because we are more than doubling what we currently have. There will be at least 3,000 seats on the home side,” Johnson said.

The stadium will also include a public concourse level with restrooms and home concessions. It will be topped off with a brand new press box.  As far as the old fieldhouse, it will be getting all new paint, lights and flooring. The current football locker room will be completely redone with new metal lockers. All the locker rooms will feature a Wildcat head on the floor.

The new baseball field will be located where the current practice football fields are now. This will make it much easier for the baseball players to get to practices and games. The softball players also have a lot to look forward to as their new field will have many great features. 

“The fields are going to be 100 percent turf infield and outfield, there is going to be lettering and logos oan the fields, there’s going to be batting tunnels, the dugouts are going to be brick. They are going to be really nice,” Johnson said.

For the soccer field, they will be putting in artificial turf and lettering and logos on the field. The seating will increase by 500 on the opposite side of the football stadium for soccer. The players will also be getting dugouts for the benches, which will be a good addition. 

All of this started back in May 2018 when the bond was passed by the district. Since then, they have gone through a ton of meetings with architects and coaches. 

Although it seems like a long and difficult process, there have not been many setbacks other than weather according to Johnson.

“With the cold weather days they have had a few setbacks, and really there weren’t any setbacks with the design. A lot of our coaches are collaborative and worked together to see the big picture,” Johnson said.

This project will hopefully be done before the 2021-22 school year, but according to the district website they will be working on it through 2022. 

 The atmosphere at all the games will be much better and much more convenient for fans and players. DHS student athletes and the De Soto community are very excited to start practicing and playing on these fields and stadiums.