If you were the atheltic director of your respective high school and could do any upgrade to your football facility what would it be and why?
Mine would be at Lawrence County and I would first of all re-do the concession stand with newer restrooms for both home and visitor side. I would love to see a artificial turf field, and logos in the end-zones. I have talked to many people in Louisa about this and everyone thought it would be a great idea to have a board with all the district, and regional titles listed for the past teams of Lawrence County. I would also make a new tunnel that runs from the walk-way from the locker room to the field to keep the team hidden until they come onto the field.
What would you do????
If I could do ANY upgrade to Somerset's Clark field? If I could do anything I would get rid of the track and move the bleachers closer to the field. More realistically... that field has got to have turf. Too much money keeping up the bermuda on a field that size.
Estill County
New Scoreboard, Take the track out and move the Bleachers closer to the field. have bigger visiting bleachers and a new press box and goal posts. Bigger Concession stand
Turf field/New Scoreboard for Breathitt Co.
Covington Holy Cross: Wysong Field
CHC plays their home varsity games at Holmes, but they have a sports complex thats a few years old. I know Holy Cross will do the following when they raise more money and take care of some legal paperwork, but i would do these:
- add to and upgrade parking lot
- add more stands
- put in lights
Hazard i would like to see a smaller locker room for the away teams and thats about it.
At Whitley i would like to see a field house built for football use only.
Also, never go to turf, it sucks. Kepp the beautiful bermuda.
Perry Central needs a new turf field, bleachers on the other side of the field and to get a better guy on the mic to call the games. He gets a little aggervating at times.
Boyle Co. New visitor bleachers and new scoreboard
64black&gold Wrote:Boyle Co. New visitor bleachers and new scoreboard
Yep. Visitor side bleachers for sure. Other than that, Boyle County has one of the, overall, best stadiums.
BoyleCounty Wrote:Yep. Visitor side bleachers for sure. Other than that, Boyle County has one of the, overall, best stadiums.
I agree. Boyle Co. has monster home side bleachers....but very little away bleachers. Depsite that, the place looks fantastic, along with the new field turf.
Take the track out and put the fans up closer to the game
Webster County - major upgrades to the 1960 era lights.
Mountain Wrote:Take the track out and put the fans up closer to the game
Who?
If I were the AD at Shelby County I would change the field to a turf field.
If I were the AD at Collins I would add more bleachers and more parking.
Bolt Wrote:At Whitley i would like to see a field house built for football use only.
Also, never go to turf, it sucks. Kepp the beautiful bermuda.
Bermuda is definitely the better surface IMO, but the cost of keeping up a bermuda field every year are too much for the benefits to outweigh the costs. Turf is cheaper in the long run.
RoShamBo Wrote:Bermuda is definitely the better surface IMO, but the cost of keeping up a bermuda field every year are too much for the benefits to outweigh the costs. Turf is cheaper in the long run.
You're absolutely right. Boyle County had the Bermuda field. There were several problems, along with the costs. Going to turf was the best thing Boyle County could have ever done with that field and it's been great to them.
Breathitt-Turf field, possibly a track around it, new score board and then new seating for the away section.
Campbell County" Build a Football field on campus - Oh, they are doing that
RoShamBo Wrote:the cost of keeping up a bermuda field every year are too much for the benefits to outweigh the costs. Turf is cheaper in the long run.
This is not true. Turf, at a minimum costs 500k, and then will HAVE to be replaced in less than 20 years. If you spent 20K a year for 20 years to upkeep bermuda it would still be cheaper. Most schools have beautiful bermuda fields and spend less than 10k a year on up keep and mowing.
At Harlan I would put in visitor seating and bring our team back over to the grandstand side of the field. The coach believes,I have been told,that having the team on the bleacher side cuts down on the teams focus. We had no problem focusing when the coach and I played together. So,we currently have the visiting team in front of the grandstand. IMO,it gives the visiting team an edge. They can get their fans behind'em. But,I could be wrong. I've certainly been wrong before. Maybe it doesn't matter.
Thunder Lips Wrote:This is not true. Turf, at a minimum costs 500k, and then will HAVE to be replaced in less than 20 years. If you spent 20K a year for 20 years to upkeep bermuda it would still be cheaper. Most schools have beautiful bermuda fields and spend less than 10k a year on up keep and mowing.
Someone gave Somerset an estimate of 300k for turf and Somerset has a BIG surface to cover. Maybe for some schools that would be the case, but in Somerset's case turf would most definitely be the cheaper alternative. Like BC said, besides the upkeep of bermuda which is extensive, you have issues with drainage and many other factors.
Plus with a turf field you can have multiple teams use the field in a given week. I'm sorry but if every school you are talking about played varsity, JV, and middle school soccer as well as varsity, JV, and middle school football on a bermuda field then by Friday night the field is not going to be "beautiful". Thus I say again, turf is cheaper than bermuda.
Thunder Lips Wrote:This is not true. Turf, at a minimum costs 500k, and then will HAVE to be replaced in less than 20 years. If you spent 20K a year for 20 years to upkeep bermuda it would still be cheaper. Most schools have beautiful bermuda fields and spend less than 10k a year on up keep and mowing.
You need to keep in mind that when the artificial turn if replaced down the road, the replacement cost is less than half the cost of the initial installation.
Your estimate of the cost of maintaining bermuda may be low depending on water and fertilizer costs, availability of volunteer labor to do the cutting, etc. Bermuda should be watered daily during the hot summer weather and should be cut every couple of days to best stimulate root growth and spread. So, you have a large water bill, the manpower expense of cutting frequently during the hot weather and the cost of acquiring and maintaining the mowing equipment. Even if the school already owns the mowing equipment, the heavy use required to properly maintain a bermuda surface means it's going to wear out and need to be replaced sooner. Oh, and then there's the fertilizer cost also.
Also keep in mind that with all natural grass surfaces (and I don't care how well it's maintained) it can be worn down if it gets heavy use. If the band has to practice on it regularly, you can bet the line marking areas will be worn bare from over use.
Playing on natural grass during or after a heavy rain also really tears it up. In Ft. Thomas at least, where the Junior Football League uses Highlands field, that meant Junior League games being cancelled whenever we had a hard rain in order to protect the surface. With the artificial surface, cancellations went away.
And the additional problem with Bermuda is that after the first frost, Bermuda grass stops growing. When a patch gets torn out, it won't fill in until the next summer. Rye or bluegrass can be overseeded, but it takes a while to get hold. If a team makes it deep into the playoffs and there is a heavy rain on the day or two before a playoff game, the field can turn into a muddy mess. If you don't mind your team playing in the mud and think that muddy surfaces are just part of the game, then that's no problem to you.
But it can affect the outcome of a game. Put artificial turf in place at Highlands prior to the 97 season, there is no Mud Bowl and I fervently believe Highlands beats CovCath in that game and goes on to win state. Heck, someone mentioned they didn't want artificial turf at Whitley. One can legitimately question whether Whitley would have beat Highlands in 08 if artificial turf had been in place. Whitley had several turn overs in that game and the muddy surface may have played a big role in creating some of those turnovers.
I'm old school on almost everything else, but when it comes to playing surfaces, I'm artificial surface all the way.
I dont have to much to say about Belfrys' field considering its nice and turf.
But if i was the AD at Prestonsburg. I Would love to see them get a new field.
In the middle its like a sand pit. and miniture sand pits around the rest of the field.
Belfry Insider Wrote:I dont have to much to say about Belfrys' field considering its nice and turf.
But if i was the AD at Prestonsburg. I Would love to see them get a new field.
In the middle its like a sand pit. and miniture sand pits around the rest of the field.
I was hoping there were no Belfry fans with anything to "wish for" when it comes to their stadium. The Pirates have one of the nicest HS facilities I've seen anywhere.
I will admit, though, you guys certainly paid your dues for decades at Vippermann . . . as great as your current stadium is, that's how bad your prior one was.
RoShamBo Wrote:If I could do ANY upgrade to Somerset's Clark field? If I could do anything I would get rid of the track and move the bleachers closer to the field. More realistically... that field has got to have turf. Too much money keeping up the bermuda on a field that size.
Back in the 70s/80s, I played against the Jumpers a couple times at their current field, and I always liked the fact that the bleachers were further from the field. I do agree with the turf, though . . . a quality artificial surface would make that place (once again) one of the better facilities in central KY.
At Corbin, the only thing they can & need to replace without losing any of the history of the field/stadium is the scoreboard.
I think hazard turf field and track was around 900k. I'm not sure if thats counting the new scoreboard or not.
bac2369 Wrote:I think hazard turf field and track was around 900k. I'm not sure if thats counting the new scoreboard or not.
I don't doubt this, it used to be up around a million or more to get turf done but it has gotten a lot cheaper with the economic situation. If teams are considering turf now is the time to get it done.
Assuming I had more power than the existing AD. I would actually hire teachers who are coaches and/or vice versa. Henry county is losing good assistants and not replacing them. They need a new basketball coach, at least two assistant football coaches and probably a head softball coach. The Assistant Super has made it clear that they will not hire coaches who are teachers. They have the fortunate luck of having quality Paras coach over the years but they are running dry.
They need a weightlifting class, taller pressbox, and a practice field that doesn't hold every drop of rain.