By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The turf at the Bowling Green High School stadium may be just the beginning of improvements for the district’s athletes – with a community-funded effort underway to build a field house.
During Tuesday’s school board meeting, several coaches and students lined up to thank the district for action taken last month to install turf at the football stadium.
Members of the girls soccer team said they will appreciate not having to fill in holes, or find baby bunnies on the field. By playing at the stadium, the team will have restrooms and concessions, and won’t have to end games early because there are no lights.
The soccer coach told board members that she knew they were hearing a lot of negativity about spending $750,000 on the turf. She wanted to share some positivity instead. “We wanted to tell you how awesome it is for us and our program,” she said.
“It really shows the community is behind us,” one football player said.
Band director Bruce Corrigan said the turf will make a big difference also for the marching band.
“We’re looking forward to sharing that field with so many others,” he said. “It’s going to be great – not just for the teams, but for us, too.”
A boys soccer player echoed the thanks.
“It was really embarrassing having other teams come to our facility and talk about how bad it was,” he said.
Community member Tim Dunn offered his kudos to the school board on the new turf. He explained efforts that began about two and a half years ago to form the Bobcat Athletic Foundation to help the school district.
“Then COVID hit,” Dunn said.
But the organization recently began meeting again, and wants to build on the enthusiasm stirred by the new turf.
“How do we take the momentum you’ve created here and assist with athletics?” Dunn said.
The foundation is trying to raise private funds to build a field house at the stadium – complete with new locker rooms, ticket windows, concessions areas, weight rooms and public restrooms, he said.
The field house would benefit football, lacrosse, soccer, band, the public, and possibly physical education classes, Dunn said.
The organization is working to raise funds from businesses, BGSU and individuals – with no timeline in place, he said.
Dunn said the majority of the Bobcat Athletic Foundation members no longer have children in the school system. They just want to do something for the community.
“We hope to really push this as a community,” he said.
And once the field house is complete, the organization may move onto the next project, such as helping with the needs of the baseball and softball program, according to Dunn.
