District Three is home to Northwestern's and Rock Hill's football teams. With the multi-purpose surface in place, the stadium is better prepared for ninth-grade and JV football games on Thursdays, plus band competitions and soccer games in the spring.

Neither the Bearcats' or Trojans' football teams have been on the field, but they will get the opportunity to test it out during preseason practice, which begins Aug. 1.

Billy Parker, Rock Hill's athletics director, said the Bearcats will practice twice on the field in the preseason. Northwestern's two sessions will be scrimmages -- at 6 p.m. on Aug. 8 against Blythewood and a three-way on Aug. 22 against Independence and Ridge View.

The Herald Football Jamboree will be played at the stadium, beginning at 4 p.m. on Aug. 16.

"We're going to practice at the stadium during the preseason to get used to it," Parker said. "Most of our scrimmages this year ended up on the road this year and that's why we are not scrimmaging there.

"I don't think it will be hard for our kids to get used to it. In the old days, yes, but the new turf has made so many improvements that you don't have to wear special shoes. On older turf, players had to pick up their feet if they didn't want to fall on their face. They had to wears shoes with tiny rubber cleats. On the new turf, they can wear their regular shoes."

The turf, installed by Medallion Athletic Products Inc. of Mooresville, N.C., cost $700,000. That's more than a grass field, but maintenance costs for an artificial field are lower. It won't get worn down like grass does.

If two fields each were completely redone -- one with artificial turf and one with grass -- the turf field would cost about $256,000 less at the end of a 10-year period, according to figures from the Rock Hill school district.

Money for the turf came from a $3 million-plus surplus from last fiscal year's budget.

Parker, South Pointe athletics director Mike Drummond and Northwestern football coach Jimmy Wallace made a trip to S.C. State when installing turf was being discussed and came away impressed. S.C. State and Newberry are the only schools in the state with artificial surfaces.

Class A played its two high school state championships at S.C. State. Parker called two of the four coaches involved, Carvers Bay's Nate Thompson and Blackville-Hilda's David Berry, to get their impressions.

Parker was concerned about players getting burns from the turf and if playing on it was a positive experience. He got glowing reviews and has been by District Three Stadium several times to check on the progress there.

"Both coaches said the kids loved it and wore the shoes they did all the time," Parker said. "They were really positive, and with their kids loving playing on it, I felt a whole lot better about our situation.

"Our field looks great and it feels great when you walk on it. The field has white lines for football and black ones for soccer. They were going to use burnt orange for the soccer lines until I pitched a fit. We want our boys and girls soccer teams to play as many games there as we can schedule.''

Parker said as far as he knows, District Three is the first high school stadium in South Carolina to get turf. He said Ardrey Kell near Charlotte, where former Clover coach Marty Woolbright heads the football team, has it and a bunch of North Carolina schools near the mountains have had it installed.

The school board also approved a new scoreboard similar to the one at Byrnes High School that has message boards and a video screen. The board approved $300,000 for the project, but had to cut back when the estimate came in at $25,000 over budget.

Parker said the new scoreboard is being installed but it will be a scaled-back version. It will cost $125,000 but has not been installed.

"We'll have an upgraded scoreboard with a really good sound system," Parker said. "It will have a digital message board and roll panels like you see at basketball games that the district will use to sell advertisement. The only thing we are missing is a video screen."

Wallace said talk of putting turf down began several years ago. What got the ball rolling, he said, was college teams were installing it on their practice fields and some in their stadiums.

Wallace said that four years ago Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore flew to several schools that had the turf around the country and asked his administrators to install it at the school's stadium when he got back.

"Having turf is awesome," Wallace said. "You can use it 24-7, and that's the key. Our problem has been that the field is usually worn out by the sixth week of the season. We won't have to worry about that any more. It absorbs water and you can keep playing. Turf gets hot, but we play at night."

Wallace added that having turf would not keep games from being postponed because of rain. He said Northwestern wants to play on Friday nights if possible, but that he has to look at the extended forecast to be sure about good conditions that will bring in a big crowd. He said the Trojans' entire athletics program depends on football money.

According to Wallace, the Trojans and Bearcats will not practice at the stadium once the regular season starts.

"My understanding is turf is turf and the new stuff is like playing on grass," Wallace said. "We want to go over there and run some 40s to time our kids and see if there is a difference, speed-wise. The best part of the deal is at the end of the season, you still have a good field to play on.

"Our district operations people, directed by Mike Armour, have done a tremendous job keeping the stadium going. Having turf will allow them to focus on other things -- no aerating, re-seeding, fertilizing, cutting or painting. We got a report from a principal in Ohio that said it will pay for itself in seven years because it cuts the cost of maintaining the field."