Whether a football game, soccer or lacrosse matches, baseball action, or some other type of contest or event, it was always fun and so neat to attend and watch various sports at the old Paul VI Catholic private high-school campus field in Fairfax.
The field was right there in the wide open for all to see, right next to Route 50 and across the street from a big shopping center. Plus, it was just around the corner from a McDonald’s and many other businesses and places to eat.
Route 50 was almost close enough for a kicked soccer ball or football ball, or long home runs from a baseball game to bounce onto the road. In other words, the field was right in the middle of so much. People walking along the Route 50 sidewalks would stop and watch the action. It was also possible to park across the street in the shopping center and watch games from your vehicle.
The Paul VI field was one of the few remaining – if not the only one locally on the high-school level – that was still a natural-grass surface. So uniforms had real grass and dirt stains. Remember those? That meant there were those great smells of the wet grass and dirt and all the great sounds of the different sports coming from that area.
But no more. That Paul VI field is gone now. It has been plowed under and over, and replaced by a big muddy construction site, of what is becoming a town center. See the photo with this blog.
The Paul VI Catholic school has been relocated to its new campus in Loudoun County, which includes modern artificial-turf playing fields that aren’t squeezed beside a big road, within easy view of a shopping center or around the corner from a popular fast-food restaurant.
So it’s not the same anymore when driving or walking past Paul VI’s old grass-field venue and glancing that way. That field is missed.
– Dave Facinoli
dfacinoli@sungazette.net