Soccer Cub Revitalizes St. Joseph Field in Partnership with West40

West40 is proud to announce its partnership with the LaGrange Celtics, a local soccer club that has been granted use of our St. Joseph athletic fields in Westchester. The club kicked off its annual soccer camp at St. Joseph during the week of June 23, 2025.

Club president David Rout said the Celtics previously utilized the St. Joseph soccer field on a limited basis when the high school still operated. More recently, the Celtics contacted West40 to see if a partnership would be possible after it found itself in need of a new home playing field.

“We’re very much getting squeezed by park districts locally, in terms of usage and lack of availability. So we reached out to West40 and they very generously obliged by letting us use the fields,” Rout said. “So now we’re putting a little bit of time, effort and financial investment into the fields to get them up to how they really should be for playing fields for kids.”

As part of the agreement, the Celtics have taken over field preparation and maintenance. The club has moved soccer-related equipment onto the field and has spread fertilizer and weed killer. The club also purchased a commercial lawn mower to use on the field and it plans to spread top soil and seed on the surface.

According to Rout, the club expects to host several more youth soccer camps at St. Joseph this summer before its season starts in the middle of August.

“We’ll be holding a majority of our club practices here. There will be a lot of activity for kids around the area. That’s Westchester, LaGrange, LaGrange Park, Brookfield, Western Springs. They’ll all be converging on these fields come the fall for practice and for our league games,” said Rout.

The LaGrange Celtics is a 501(c)(3) that supports youth soccer players from all levels of development and competition.

West40 remains committed to supporting community engagement and recreational opportunities at our St. Joseph campus. We look forward to partnering with more local organizations inside our school and on the exterior fields.