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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
Cabell County discussing artificial turf installation
HUNTINGTON -- A playing field with artificial turf has long been considered a luxury at the high school level.
However, the Cabell County Board of Education is looking into the prospects of turfing fields at both Huntington and Cabell Midland high schools as a way to save the expense of building new facilities.
"Talk of turf is in the very initial stages. At this point, it is just a discussion," said Todd Alexander, director of secondary schools for the Cabell County Board of Education. "However, it is a discussion because we are trying to find adequate facilities for the new middle schools that are being built in town."
Especially for Huntington High School, turf might become a necessity sooner than later. Huntington High athletic director Bruce Senior has already worked out a plan with Huntington Middle School so that the Eagles can use Sang Field for select football games and practice for the 2008 season.
Huntington High School already has home games in varsity (Friday night), junior varsity (Monday night) and freshman football (Thursday night) as well as practice of its own. The addition of Huntington Middle School's schedule means there will be several more games on Thursday nights this fall.
"No matter what, that's going to be a lot of wear and tear on the field," Senior said. "And if it rains, things could get really bad."
With the possible consolidation of Beverly Hills and Enslow middle schools, things might only get busier for Sang Field at Huntington High School.
In 2006, there were four feeder schools into Huntington High School and all had adequate playing facilities. Fast forward two years and the proposed consolidation of Beverly Hills and Enslow would mean that neither of Huntington's two feeder schools -- Huntington Middle and the proposed new school -- would have an athletic complex to call its own.
But with artificial turf being an option, the Cabell County Board of Education might decide to put its efforts into renovating the already-existing field at HHS instead of trying to construct two separate playing facilities from scratch.
"We did some cost estimates and it's expensive even for a middle school facility, and they use them four or five times a year," Alexander said. "When you start looking at facilities for two or three different middle schools, you are looking at quite a bit of money.
"We think maybe the money would be better served to go to the high schools and turf their fields. We've looked at the prospect of turfing Huntington High and putting money into the stadium that is here. Of course, Cabell Midland would get the same treatment. With that said, we don't know where the money would come from and it's in the initial stages, but it is a possibility."
Alexander said while football would have a primary emphasis, the fields would be multi-purpose facilities that all programs at the schools can benefit from.
Representatives from each of the middle schools were brought together to discuss future athletic plans and they agreed that an all-purpose facility would be beneficial, but no proposal had been submitted to the board yet.
With Barboursville and Milton middle schools both having their own football complexes, Alexander said that if such a plan was put in place, Huntington High would get artificial turf first, but Cabell Midland would get it soon after.
Alexander reiterated that neither is guaranteed at this time because there is no funding in place for such a project and costs are expected to be between $500,000 and $750,000.
With that said, Alexander thinks the intrinsic value for the schools, the athletes and the communities is well worth that price.
"Looking at it, it is my feeling that we need to move in that direction a little bit," Alexander said. "It would be a good investment for both communities."
Alexander said there are several possible ways to offset costs, such as selling naming rights to the field or putting advertisements at the 20-yard lines as many schools nationwide have done.
However, all that talk is a long way off.
