By Judy Bernstein

QUEENSBURY -- It was when Sue Morse was racing around from field to field across the city trying to catch her children's different high school games that she said she first got the idea of finding land for an athletic complex for the Glens Falls school district.

"It was impossible to get from one field to the next in time to see them play," Morse said.

On Thursday morning, she and her husband, Phillip, got the chance to see that dream come true as they helped dedicate the $3.5 million complex on Sherman Avenue that they donated to the district.

The Glens Falls City School District Morse Athletic Complex provides baseball, softball, lacrosse, soccer and field hockey fields, tennis courts and a field house on 37 acres for varsity, junior varsity and modified teams.

"They are your fields and I couldn't be prouder," Morse said, as 2,000 students joined school officials and Glens Falls and Queensbury municipal officials in a standing ovation.

School officials praised the Morses, local philanthropists who operate the Morse Foundation, for their generosity.

They said the new fields would not only make life easier for parents, but, more importantly, for students by giving them more -- and better -- fields.

School board President Jane Reid said the girls and boys soccer teams will no longer have to dodge the "sinker" holes and "divots" in their fields and the baseball team will have a full-sized diamond.

"Ask our teams how they feel.  I have," Reid said.

Reid said the Morses' gift will benefit generations to come.

District Athletic Director Doug Kenyon praised the couple for their "very, very generous gift," saying the value of it for outdoor athletic fields was unprecedented in the state.

School district Superintendent Thomas McGowan said that the donation showed the Morses commitment to the community and said the community will be forever indebted to them.

Phillip Morse, not happy with he and his wife to taking all the praise for the project, called up more than a dozen people who helped build the fields and field house -- the engineer, the lawyers, the plumbers and others -- to honor them as well.

He told the students that playing sports is an important part of life because the youngsters learn sportsmanship and how to be a part of a team.

"I've forgotten most of the losses and wins, but I remember the competition and the friendships developed as an athlete," he said of his years in high school.

As a special honor to the Morses, children from each of the schools came up to the podium to give them roses.

School officials also thanked Rob and Donna Slack, neighbors of the fields who donated some of their property for the project.

High school Principal Jeffery Ziegler, out in the fields before the ceremony, said students probably still don't know what kind of a gift they've received since play just started at the complex in the spring.

But some students said the difference was immediately apparent when they played there.

"They're wide open, as much space as you need," high school senior Jake Yellen said.

Junior Vanessa Barton said several teams can now play at the same time, so there's no waiting.

"These are better.  It really helps us with our sports," freshman Michael Rogers said.