New Decatur High Stadium Attractive To Bowl Officials
December 27, 2009 | 6:16 pmMust be a pretty darn nice field to play on.
This morning’s AJC reports on an unexpected (?) perk of the new DHS stadium.
Bowl officials helped Tennessee pick Decatur as a practice site over Georgia Tech and Clark Atlanta after the Vols (7-5) were selected to play in the New Year’s Eve game against Virginia Tech.
…“We came down for an inspection, and [Decatur High] was the option that suited us best,” travel coordinator David Elliott said. “We were looking for a surface similar to that of the Georgia Dome and this was the best fit.”
…“It’s a very exciting time, not only for our school but for the City of Decatur,” [Decatur athletics director Carter] Wilson said. “It shows that other people think highly of our facilities, as we do. We look forward to a long relationship with the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.”
h/t: InDecatur
P.S. TheDNO posted some photos of Saturday’s practice on Flickr.
P.P.S. Here’s InDecatur’s report, with an extensive photo montage, from the Vol’s weekend practice.
I assume that CSD was reimbursed for this use of DHS facilities? If so, great way to raise money in tough times to support excellent facilities. Maybe this type of revenue will help bring back some sports programs that had to be cut at Renfroe because of the tight times, e.g. the RMS football team and the cheerleaders. I completely understand why cuts have to be made but it’s a little lopsided when the other team has these loud, enthusiastic, bouncy cheerleaders and we have just the RMS fans in the stands trying to compensate.
Funny. I just sent an email asking about reimbursement. I’ll let you know if/when I hear back.
Yes, I’ve also been curious whether CSD is compensated when others use the football stadium. I know several high schools (including Westminster) used it this fall because flooding ruined the turf at a lot of other high school stadiums.
I don’t necessarily mind CSD allowing this kind of access, but given the taxpayer cost to build and maintain these facilities, I certainly hope they receive fair compensation.
Really? We’re really asking about reimbursement? UT uses the stadium and accompanying athletic facilities for one day and we want money for that? Really? We should be proud that an out-of-state team, no, wait, university, thought our facilities were top notch. Can’t we be happy with the compliment and the exposure?
I understand we are in tight economic times, but not everything needs a dollar sign attached to it. Come on, folks.
Personally, I don’t care whether or not the school system receives compensation. I just thought it would be interesting to know how these arrangements occur.
Have you SEEN the Volunteers? The size alone of most of them guarantees that the field probably needs both pre and post-maintenance to accommodate such a group. The stadium wasn’t built as a PR stunt, it was built as a commanding venue for sporting events, which will ideally raise some funds to push back into the school and athletics program.
So, given the extra maintenance likely incurred by such a usage, and the fact that the venue is good enough to attract this sort of attention, what’s the issue with making a bit of money from this again? Sounds like sound business practice to me.
Having played (many, many years ago) for an underfunded HS football program, in lieu of financial compensation, I would have loved university-level castoffs of any kind: balls, pads, dummies, cones, anything. Cheaper for the U than new cash, and still valuable for the HS kids = win/win. I’d be surprised if someone clever hadn’t already proposed/instituted that kind of contribution.
I like this win-win idea. And many high school and middle school boys would probably be ecstatic to even touch something used by the Vols. I know of at least one who was surfing the Net to find out whatever he could about the practices (but was too shy to show up without a clear invitation).
I’m sure there was compensation. And either way I’m sure some of those players and their families spent some time and money in the City. Win, win situation.
BTW, I wouldn’t be surprised if that field was featured in the next inspiring football movie cranked out of Hollywood.
And I know a whole lot of Decatur boys who would love to play extras–would probably pay for the opportunity! Put shoulder pads on them and even our adorable Decatur boys look tough!
True. The more I think about it, equipment cast-offs and frequenting of local businesses is probably payment enough (if that actually happens). And, certainly the goodwill of helping neighbors is payment enough for allowing other local high schools to use it when in need. I am still a little curious about how it all works, though.
JoeBlow – will i see you in Miami?
There is a fee for this service. So compensation occurred.
So we still don’t know for sure the details of the deal with UT? I sure wish some enterprising reporter/blogger would confirm whether money (or goods) changed hands.
I’ve followed up on my inquiry. Thanks Dave.