Jackson High School football group pushing for artificial turf
By Jim Thomas
CantonRep.com staff report
Posted Jul 28, 2010 @ 05:18 PM
JACKSON TWP. —
The color purple is synonymous with Jackson High School. It’s in the halls, on the walls, even on some basketballs.
It is not, however, associated much with Robert Fife Stadium’s football field.
The Jackson Sideliners hope that one day a Polar Bear athlete will splash down onto a purple end zone.
That effort is under way with a fundraising campaign and an online site at ibelieveweneedturf.com.
“What we are doing is going through the process,” said Vertrence Terrell, head of the Sideliners turf committee. “We had a June 1 deadline to break ground for this season. So now we are pursuing other avenues.”
Jackson High School Athletic Director Terry Peterson said the Sideliners’ idea is not new to the school.
“We’ve been talking about having turf for five or six years,” Peterson said. “This year it became a little more interesting. The Sideliners wanted to see if in fact anything could be done to raise money.
“It became a big thing for a while, then died down.”
The Sideliners’ hope to have purple end zones mixed with the green turf. There was a rumor swirling about turf being purple throughout — similar to how Boise State has end-to-end blue turf.
“I had heard that they were trying to incorporate the school colors into the field,” said Kenneth Douglas, Jackson Local Schools board member. “I think purple end zones would look good, but the whole field ... that would be a lot of purple out there.”
The cost is estimated at $790,000 to pay for the surface and install it on the football field. Fellow Federal League member Lake High School went to artificial turf — complete with blue end zones and a blue surrounding artificial track — in 2008 at an estimated cost of $850,000.
The Lake Building Committee raised all the money through private donations at no cost to taxpayers. The facility since has hosted band concerts, summer wrestling, soccer and more in addition to Blue Streaks football.
That’s what the Jackson Sideliners want as well.
“What they did is great. It’s a community effort, and that’s what you need,” Terrell said. “(Turf) can have multiple uses, more than football. Our lacrosse teams and the band could use it. The baseball team.
“It’s a grassroots thing. We don’t want to go to the school board. ... We’re not getting any financial support from the school board.”
Peterson said any kind of private project is the best way to get this done.
”We do need it,” he said. “Grass — in Ohio, in the fall, with freshman, JV and varsity games — doesn’t hold up. I think there is an interest there.
“But financially ... we can’t have any (taxpayer) funds involved.”
As two-a-days start and high schools get ready for another season, the Jackson Sideliners still are waiting for that first donation.
“We’ve got people saying they want to make donations, but they’re waiting for someone to make the first move,” Terrell said. “Once that happens, I believe it will take off.”
