Watauga High School Football Field
High school athletic departments across North Carolina were recently granted $62.8 million dollars, across 18 school districts, to upgrade fields and stadiums. Watauga County did not receive a portion of the funding due to the pristine state of many of our athletics facilities, but several counties in our sports conference did.
The funding was generally granted to schools in the western part of the state, with plenty of money granted to nearby high schools, indirectly affecting our Watauga student-athletes.
Neighboring Ashe County High School was one of 18 schools to receive funding to improve their facilities. They received $2.5 million for improvements to their track and their football fields.
“These facilities are in need of repairs and upgrades. Harsh winters and heavy use really hurt these facilities and often makes repairs difficult,” said Ashe County Manager Adam Stumb. “The idea is to install a turf field that will require less maintenance and will allow more use by a diverse group. This money will go straight to Ashe County Schools and the School Board will contract with someone to construct the upgrades.”
Junior Josh Adams is excited about the possibility of improvement for Ashe County, but also for how it will affect our Watauga athletes.
“I’m excited because a lot of these fields aren’t as good as our fields, and when it rains, I’m sure they have to delay or move their games, and I think it’s great that everyone is getting these new fields and facilities,” said Adams.
The funding from our state legislature targeted specific areas with the greatest need for money and facility improvement.
“Ashe County received one of these grants last year for a different project, and I imagine it will follow a similar process. For that grant, we had to fill out a scope of work that described the project, and steps that we were going to take to complete the project,” said Stumb. “Additionally, we have had to do regular reporting on this grant throughout the project. Once the scope of work is completed, typically, the State of North Carolina will transfer the funds to Ashe County Schools so that they can begin the project.”
Facility improvements are often an arduous process, but with the money already officially set aside for these improvements, they could be done as soon as next year.
“I can't speak for when something would be done in those other counties, but I know when we've had things done here—for example, when we have our turf field installed—it's about a year long process from start to finish,” said Watauga Athletic Director Dustin Kerley. “But once you get on the schedule, they come in, they can get the turf put down pretty quickly actually, which is kind of amazing to watch them do it. I remember when they did ours here, they started in early July and they were done by the end of July.”
Although the improvement process can be efficient, when different facilities compete for the same improvement companies, it can hinder progress.
“It’s something the athletic director definitely has to plan for,” said Kerley. “When we try to get these things scheduled here, we try during the summer months, because that's ideal, but anyone getting new turf wants to put in in the summer, so the companies doing it are busy. They're backed up back-to-back-to-back getting these done. So you just have to make alternate arrangements.”
Our neighboring counties implementing facility improvements will likely search for creative solutions.
“Maybe you have another field on your campus. If you don't have another field, you use a local field in the community. If you don't have that option, maybe you contact your neighbors, county neighbors, and ask if you can use their facility or their space,” said Kerley. “Or make arrangements on your campus for practices, and then [make sure] your first couple of games are away. Those are all some options.”
The improvements aren’t just cause for frivolous spending. The players enjoy better facilities, and they can improve safety and involvement in sports.
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