Nitro , Kanawha County , West Virginia

The Nitro High School girls and boys soccer players are happy to have a new home. They are now practicing and playing on a field owned by the city of Nitro. The field is located at Nitro City Park, right next to the Nitro High School Football Field.

"It's really nice to have our own facilities," said junior Nitro High School soccer player Laine Roberts.

Nitro High School Head Girls Soccer Coach Kim Aurelie said, “It's a great opportunity for us; we have our own field.”

But there are some concerns. Aurelie said the soccer program needs of a lot of things prior to being able to start the season, including bleachers, possibly a PA system and nets that go behind the goals to catch some of the soccer balls that go off the field.

Nitro High School Head Boys Soccer Coach Brian Young agreed that there is some work to do. “It will take a little bit of money to get them up to scale," Young said.

In years past, the team practiced on the high school softball field and played games on the football field.

Nitro High School senior soccer player Kelli Douglas said it was not an ideal situation. "It was not good at all because there were holes and we had to share with the band," Douglas said. "So this way, we get the whole field."

Coaches, players, and school officials say they hope this is a temporary fix. They want to have their own field on school property in the future. But that also takes money.

Young estimated it would take about $100,000 to get a complex for soccer.

Douglas, the senior soccer player, said playing on the city of Nitro’s field will work as long as everything is set up on time. "It's like we're stepping up a level, and the community is helping us."

Young said it is "really nice to see a lot of community jumping behind us and stuff, especially the city of Nitro.”

It’s a community that will have to rally behind the team and the school to help them move forward in the future.

Eyewitness News also spoke with Nitro High School Principal Diane Smith. Smith said she has been trying for two years to get a permanent facility for the soccer teams. She also hopes to work with the school board and the city of Nitro to make this a reality in the future.

As for the much needed lights at the field, those are expected to be installed by October. The city of Nitro is also helping make that possible.

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