Civic Center football fields won’t be ready for start of season

As the 2009 Tri-County Sports Authority football season approaches, there is good news and bad news for those involved, which is expected to include close to 200 players and many more cheerleaders.

The bad news is that the group is still without a permanent facility, but the good news is that much progress has been made on the civic center fields since last season.

Though they were reluctant to give an estimated date of completion, city officials said work is being done to try and get the fields finished as soon as possible. They cited a stretch of bad weather as one of the reasons for delay and said they are still battling to catch up.

"You know, we had about a two-week stretch where we had rain almost every day," Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney said. "That really slows you down because you can’t really do anything during that time."

Corbin Recreation Director Marlon Sams said the biggest holdup has been a study that had to be performed before workers could install goal posts, fence posts and light poles.

"They had to determine how deep to put the poles, how much concrete had to go in them to set them and things like that," Sams said. "When you consider the rain we have had, we were lucky to get them done when we did."

On a positive front, McBurney said that sewer lines are being installed this week and that the concession stand and bathrooms should soon follow. He asked for all involved to be patient because he thinks the facility will be worth the wait when it is done.

"This is going be close to a half-a-million dollar facility once it is finished and there is nothing else like it in the area," he said. "No other place I know around here has a place designated solely for little league football.

"It is really going to be nice and it will be something to be proud of when it is done," he added.

In the meantime, TCSA’s Football Commissioner Mel Chandler Jr. said he wants to assure those who have signed their children up that they even though they have nothing finalized yet, they will have a place to play football.

"We don’t have anything set in stone, but we are talking with Corbin High School Athletic Director Gerald Foley to try and see what we can work out," Chandler said. "We have to get a copy of their master schedule and just look and see where we can fit in. We would like to even use the practice facility at CHS as well. 

"We are sure we will play somewhere, it’s just a matter of where," he added.

For now, Chandler said the league would continue as planned with the scheduled camp, league draft and practices. TCSA will hold a free camp this Friday at the Corbin High School practice field. Registration will start at 8 a.m. with the camp expected to get underway at 9 a.m.

Chandler said those who haven’t signed up should come early to avoid any delays.

"We have around 120 kids signed up already and we expect about 60-75 more to sign up at the camp," he said. "That seems to happen every year, so we will expect it again."

Also this year, the Corbin High School junior varsity and varsity cheerleaders will be providing a free cheerleading camp for all cheerleaders that are signed up. As with the football camp, registration will begin at 8 a.m. and the camp is expected to begin at 9 a.m.