Published: June 23, 2008 11:20 am            

Stadium still on target for football opener

Work continues on the renovations for Kangaroo Stadium and according to Weatherford Independent School District Athletic Director Philip O’Neal, everything is right on schedule.

“It’s been a real neat process. I know that some of the renderings of the stadium have been published in the newspaper and it’s going along very well,” O’Neal said. “The parking situation is improving and they’re in the process, they’ve got the base laid down, and they are in the process of putting the turf on top of that. That will be a several week process.

“We’re in good shape. Barring any rains like we had last summer, 30, 40, 50 days, however many that was, the stadium will be... the turf will be completed in ample enough time for us to open up the football season.

“It’s been a good process, like I said. Carter Construction has done a really good job of staying on the timetable, so we’re real excited about the way everything is going.”

O’Neal said the renovations to the stadium are exciting for the entire community, but he said one group in particular is greatly affected by the project — the kids.

“I think the people it affects the most are the kids and the kids are real excited about having that and they’re excited about being able to play on a surface like that like they have at other schools,” he said. “I know that the school board should be commended on their efforts to update that facility and make it a neat place, not only for the athletic department, but for the band and the drill team and the community as they go and watch the sports teams play.”

O’Neal has spoken with many people in and around the community about the stadium project. He said everyone is anxious to know when they can expect to see the final product.

“The biggest question I get is, ‘When are they going to be completed with the project itself?’ As soon as football is over this next football season, hopefully sometime in January or the end of December, when football ends, immediately they are going to go in and start the renovations of the stands and the restrooms and the concession stands and the whole deal,” O’Neal said. “At that point, they’ll get in there. That’s the point where we’ll be most pressed for time, but we’ll have from the end of football season to the beginning of the next football season to get all that done.”

Because of that time table and the final renovations that will be handled following the football season, O’Neal said the Weatherford High School soccer teams will probably have to spend another season with Hall Middle School as their home site. However, there is an outside chance they could play in the new stadium in 2008-09.

“It something that we’re hopeful for, but I’m not optimistic about it,” he said. “The year after that, they’re going to be in there and it’s going to be a great situation for them, so I’m excited for them.”

When looking at the benefits of the project, O’Neal said he is most excited for soccer teams and what the new turf means for their sport.

“One of the groups that I’m really excited for to get into that facility is soccer,” he said. “They’ve been playing at Hall Middle School and to move those guys to the stadium will be a good thing. They deserve that. They deserve to get to play there and to have the surface that we have, which will be a consistent surface and to be able to widen the field, which is something that our soccer coaches have always wanted. But to have that consistent surface and be able to widen that field... we’ll play more soccer games on that field than we will anything else, so that’s a neat deal.”

And while there are many players, coaches and teams who will use the field, O’Neal said there is one person in particular that he feels deserves to be on the new turf.

“I know Coach [Tyler] Kernan has been here, he went to high school here, and for that fact, so did Coach [Efren] Martinez, but Coach Kernan having been here as long as he has and having had to go over to Hall on a field that because we have so many activities with the Optimist football and the middle school football that take place there, having a surface that’s somewhat inconsistent has been something that has bugged us all over the course of time,” O’Neal said. “So, for him having been here so long, it’s a neat opportunity to move back to the stadium and I know they’re excited about it. And I know the kids are excited about it. They want to be in there now, but unfortunately, we’re not able to get them in there now, but again, in time, it’s going to be a great situation for them.

        

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