Fans of the Niles football team have had a long road this season. The 2022 football season was played entirely on the road this fall as Viking Stadium was being converted from a grass playing field to artificial turf. Construction on the field didn’t start until August, which made it impossible for the Vikings to play any games at home this season. Niles had four home games scheduled, their game against Buchanan was played at Berrien Springs new Sylvester Stadium. Games against Vicksburg and Dowagiac were played at Steve Upton Field at Dickinson Stadium in St. Joe. And the Vikings homecoming game against Paw Paw was actually played at Falan Field in Paw Paw.
But a week after the Vikings were eliminated from the 2022 football playoffs, Niles field is finally complete. Even though there aren’t any upcoming football games for the community to celebrate it’s unveiling. Niles is hosting a community celebration on Thursday, November 17 at 4:30 p.m. A ribbon cutting for the Niles High School Sports and Competition Field at Viking Stadium will be held at 4:30, then the field will remain open for the community to view the new field.
The new field is lined for both football and soccer. It’s unknown if the Niles girls soccer team will be opening up the spring season on the new field or not. We do know that the first official football game will be on the opening week of the 2023 season against St. Joseph.
(Photo: Niles Vikings Athletics/Facebook)
