Penn-Trafford's Warrior Stadium temporarily closed due to unauthorized snow shovelers

Warrior Stadium at Penn-Trafford High School is temporarily closed to the public due to recent incidents in which visitors took snow shovels to the field, potentially damaging the turf, according to Athletic Director Kerry Hetrick.

“We’ve never had an issue like this before,” he said.

It’s unclear who attempted to shovel snow off the field, or why there were doing it, Hetrick said. It happened three times in the last month.

“They were not our students, I can tell you that,” he said.

Shovels can potentially damage the turf, which was installed in 2019.

“It can rip the seams, it can rip the turf, it can basically just tear the surface apart,” Hetrick said.

It’s unclear whether the field was damaged, Hetrick said. District officials will conduct a close inspection of the field when the weather clears.

The district usually keeps the stadium open to the public when it’s not in use. People often come to walk on the track that surrounds the field.

Officials made the decision to close the field Friday.

“After the third time, we have to protect our investment,” Hetrick said.

The district in 2019 hired Shaw Sports Turf of Calhoun, Ga., to replace the field’s turf at a cost of $433,290. The old turf was nine years old, and the district got a discount from Shaw because the company also installed turf for the Norwin, Jeannette and Greensburg-Salem school districts that summer.

When pleasant weather returns the field will reopen to the public as normal, Hetrick said.

“When the weather breaks, we have every intention to open it back up after school hours just like we always have,” he said.