New turf surface beginning to be laid at Warrior Stadium

Gameday Athletic Surfaces crew members begin laying Warrior Stadium’s new turf surface on Tuesday afternoon. Photo by Shannon Fagan.

CENTRE – Following a recent football practice, Cherokee County senior running back/linebacker Damien Ramsey said he never imagined the Warriors getting a turf field. He said it was one of those I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it type of things.

Ramsey believes what he and his fellow teammates are seeing at Warrior Stadium right now.

“When I saw it happening, I was like ‘Oh yeah. We’re about to turn up on that field,’” Ramsey said. “There’s about to be a movie out there.”

Too bad “Field of Dreams” is already taken, but it is a field of dreams nonetheless.

Gameday Athletic Surfaces, based out of Trussville, is currently laying down the new FieldTurf surface at Warrior Stadium. The crew began installing the turf on Tuesday. It’s on schedule to be completed in time for the Warriors’ first home game of the 2021 season against Class 4A, Region 4 opponent Anniston on Sept. 10.

The cost of the turf project is estimated around $800,000.

“It is getting close,” Cherokee County Schools Superintendent Mike Welsh said. “If the weather cooperates, it’ll take about eight good weather days to get it laid. We’re still on target to have everything in place where they can play that first home game on it.”

Cherokee County High School football coach Jacob Kelley said the turf crew has been working extremely hard to get things ready for the home part of the Warriors’ schedule this season.

“We’ve been practicing at the same times they’ve been working on it. They’ve had a deadline, knowing when our first varsity home game is, and they’ve been trying to meet that deadline,” Kelley said. “In talking to them (Monday), they still feel like that Friday (against Anniston) we’ll be good to go.”

Kelley said Gameday has worked on several high school turf fields around the Northeast Alabama area. He mentioned Oxford, Arab and Cleburne County’s surfaces as some of their high school football field projects.

When he played at Shorter University, Kelley said he played on FieldTurf surfaces, much like the Warriors are getting now.

“When I played at Shorter, Barron (Stadium) transitioned to turf, and that was our home surface in Rome (Ga.),” he said. “Bethel and Belhaven were the two I remember who had FieldTurf, maybe Union (College). Literally almost ¾ of the conference that we used to play in, they all have turf now.

“It just seems like everybody who has a lot of wear and tear, a lot of sports that share athletic surfaces, they’re going to a turf model rather than a natural grass model to save on the utilities, the maintenance and other things. I guess it’s just easier and more economical for them to do it that way.”

Kelley said the lifespan on this type of turf field is between 10-15 years, depending on upkeep.

“Of course you have your maintenance,” Kelley said. “It needs to be brushed at least once a week from my understanding, maybe once a month. That comes with the installation. That keeps those chips in positions to where they need to be. If you get spots that kind of build up, the brushing process kind of helps keep everything spread out. I know the sub-layer is solid. It’s flat, and it’s hard as a rock. We’ll know more about the upkeep I’m sure in the next couple of weeks.”

The Warriors will not only be playing four games at home on their new turf, but they’ll also play on a couple of others’ turf on the road. They open at Piedmont this Friday, then travel to defending state champion and Region 4 rival Handley on Oct. 8.

With six of their nine games on turf, Kelley hopes the exposure will benefit the Warriors in the long run.

“Time will tell on us personally, but I do feel like it makes you faster,” he said. “Being able to practice on the exact surface tends to transition to better play so to speak. I feel like it should definitely give us an advantage.”

Kelley and Welsh both said they’re happy for the kids and the community to have an upgrade to field.

“I’m extremely excited about it for them,” Kelley said. “I feel bad for the guys who have played for me the last two years because they’re like ‘Could I not take a redshirt or something?’ I can’t wait to see the energy the first day when we go out there and practice on that turf. It’s going to be like a game day.”

“It’s always a goal to have the best facilities you can,” Welsh said. “Over the years, we’ve had stadiums or gymnasiums built at several of our schools. We’re very proud of that. That’s a place where a lot of people in the community come. It’s kind of the front porch of our school. We want it to be a good place and something our kids can be proud of.”

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