Story behind the place: Hagen Field

In last week's edition of the Left Hand Valley Courier, we covered the story behind Niwot's Ritz Field, named after Colorado Rockies pitcher Kevin Ritz. We now turn our attention towards its neighbor, Hagen Field, named after the late Greg Hagen.

Hagen was a parent volunteer for Niwot Youth Sports. When NYS lost the use of borrowed fields in Niwot at 83rd and Neva Road, Hagen helped erect the backstops at three new fields on Left Hand Water District property off Nimbus Road. When Hagen died tragically in an auto accident in 1993, his wife Nancy and their two children, Andrew and Chelsey, established a memorial fund in honor of Greg Hagen and donated the money to NYS. A few years later, NYS asked Hagen's family if they could honor him with their newly acquired field.

"We always thought that was really special because he was really involved in Niwot Youth Sports, just helping out however he could really," said Hagen's daughter, Chelsey Kinney. "Both my brother (Andrew Hagen, who was a member of the 1999 Niwot High School state championship baseball team) and I played through Niwot Youth Sports and he was always there cheering us on and we were really honored that they wanted to name the field after him."

Hagen Field continues to be the largest baseball field in NYS catering to mostly 13 to 15- year-old players. Initially the field was bare dirt with a backstop, but the field was completed in the fall of 1997 in conjunction with the Colorado Rockies effort to build Kevin Ritz Field.

NYS used the Hagen memorial fund to pay for materials, and recruited multiple local volunteers to help build the field. They convinced the Rockies to leave their construction equipment from Ritz Field out over a weekend so the volunteers could use it to grade Hagen Field and trench lines for an irrigation system. Hagen's parents also created a $10,000 endowment fund to maintain the field.

Kinney and Nancy Hagen honor Greg and his ballfield by planting flowers in front of the field's flagstone sign every spring. Although they couldn't complete the ritual this spring due to COVID-19, they've recruited the next generation to keep the field looking pretty.

"It's been fun and it's been really special, because now my daughter's been to the field," Kinney said. "She'll come with us and run around while we plant the flowers so it's nice being able to do that with her too."

The field has been popular with local players, and with Nancy previously teaching at Niwot Elementary, and Kinney teaching at a nearby elementary school as well, Kinney admitted their student ballplayers would frequently inquire about the field's familiar name.

The Hagens will always have fond memories of the field, and Andrew was fortunate enough to umpire games at the field growing up. With their late father's love of baseball, Kinney knows he would appreciate the field just as much.

"He would love it," Kinney said. "He always enjoyed being there, being on the field, whether it was helping out coaching, or being in the stands, or working on the field, we think he'd really enjoy it."