76 replies to this topic

[displacedrocket]

Sidney will be putting in artificial field turf in their football stadium. The new field will be paid for by private donations raised by the Vespa Club (football boosters).
All I can say is finally. The addition of field turf to the stadium will make it in my mind the nicest stadium in west central ohio bar none. Piqua's may be a tad bigger, and the lockeroom facility a bit more elaborate, but in terms of watching the game I'd choose Sidney. What gives Sidney the one up in my mind, is the fact that it is an all football stadium. There's no track that separates the field from the stands. I think the lighting is much better and the stands are more elevated so you're more on top of the field. Piqua's does have a visitors press box, but from a fans perspective I can't see that being a big deal. Should be a host site for many high school playoff football games in the future.









http://sidneydailyne...rticleID=250881

Edited by displacedrocket, 18 November 2012 - 10:55 PM.

[oberhaus]

Fantastic

[citgogainfan]

Plus it is right off I-75. Real easy to get to.

[oberhaus]

Great spot for playoffs....now if only Napoleon or Defiance can pull it off somehow.

[oberhaus]

Any millionaires in PH district that want to donate??

[Dakota Green]

I believe that in the very near future there will be a run of various stadiums either putting in or investigating into the feasiblity of putting in field turf. I know that it is a pretty pricy product to invest in however in the name of money and notoriety in my eyes there are a lot of business that would like to promote their business or product and this is the way to get their name out there. All I know is that it really levels the playing field when you have it in the playoffs. It provides the teams with some certainty that they will be able to showcase their offense and defense capabilities when you are playing on it. In response to the comment about the Sidney field being a nicer stadium then Piqua, that in and of itself is quite a statement. I was really impressed with the facility at Piqua last night and if there is anybody out there that wants to know how to build a stadium the blueprint in my eyes was made in Piqua. Just a fantastic facility to watch a game.

[jeffcat-bucki]

displacedrocket, on 17 November 2012 - 11:56 AM, said:

Sidney will be putting in artificial field turf in their football stadium. The new field will be paid for by private donations raised by the Vespa Club (football boosters).
All I can say is finally. The addition of field turf to the stadium will make it in my mind the nicest stadium in west central ohio bar none. Piqua's may be a tad bigger, and the lockeroom facility a bit more elaborate, but in terms of watching the game I'd choose Sidney. What gives Sidney the one up in my mind, is the fact that it is an all football stadium. There's no track that separates the field from the stands. I think the lighting is much better and the stands are more elevated so you're more on top of the field. Piquas does have a visitors press box, but from a fans perspective I can't see that being a big deal. Should be a host site for many high school playoff football games in the future.









http://sidneydailyne...rticleID=250881

It's about time. The only real downside of Sidney is entering/leaving the stadium and some of the parking, but it's a nice facility outside of that and it definitely passes the look test. I look forward to checking it out.

[Bluetiger76]

jeffcat-bucki, on 17 November 2012 - 01:56 PM, said:

The only real downside of Sidney is entering/leaving the stadium and some of the parking,

Jeff I do assume you have been to Donnell.

[jeffcat-bucki]

Dakota Green, on 17 November 2012 - 01:52 PM, said:

I believe that in the very near future there will be a run of various stadiums either putting in or investigating into the feasiblity of putting in field turf. I know that it is a pretty pricy product to invest in however in the name of money and notoriety in my eyes there are a lot of business that would like to promote their business or product and this is the way to get their name out there. All I know is that it really levels the playing field when you have it in the playoffs. It provides the teams with some certainty that they will be able to showcase their offense and defense capabilities when you are playing on it. In response to the comment about the Sidney field being a nicer stadium then Piqua, that in and of itself is quite a statement. I was really impressed with the facility at Piqua last night and if there is anybody out there that wants to know how to build a stadium the blueprint in my eyes was made in Piqua. Just a fantastic facility to watch a game.

I'm disappointed Delphos didn't go with field turf in their stadium updating. I don't deny that it's a large amount of money to come up with, but you have to be logical about how much money you are saving in the long run by having practically zero field maintenance outside of combing the field and adding some recycled rubber pellets from time to time. On top of that, you eliminate the need to play smaller games at other locations for fear of tearing up the field AND you can play soccer games on the field with the addition of the lines. Then again, Delphos can't even pass school levies, so I'm probably just expecting too much out of them.

[jeffcat-bucki]

Bluetiger76, on 17 November 2012 - 01:58 PM, said:

Jeff I do assume you have been to Donnell.

Yep.

I don't want to make it sound too bad. Sidney's entrance and exit isn't BAD, but it's not the greatest. Similar with the parking around the school. If they hosted a large game that was holding capacity there, parking would be an issue in my opinion. I forget the name off the top of my head, but the adjacent corporation or whatever it is, sponsored the stadium last year when DJ played Lehman. I'm sure they donated a large amount of coin to put the stadium up.

[PHSfan_1023]

oberhaus, on 17 November 2012 - 01:03 PM, said:

Great spot for playoffs....now if only Napoleon or Defiance can pull it off somehow.

Defiance College is installing field turf but without permanent lights they're not really any closer to hosting lol

[jeffcat-bucki]

PHSfan_1023, on 17 November 2012 - 07:32 PM, said:

Defiance College is installing field turf but without permanent lights they're not really any closer to hosting lol

Perhaps for Saturday games as I believe they have occasionally played earlier games on Saturdays, although at that point of the season, you would have to have a 1pm kickoff.

[PHSfan_1023]

True....DC could definitely still host playoff games, and I think they should...they've invested a lot of money in upgrading athletic facilities in the past 2 years and its had a pretty positive effect (considering what it was like when I started school there)

[displacedrocket]

The

jeffcat-bucki, on 17 November 2012 - 02:03 PM, said:

Yep.

I don't want to make it sound too bad. Sidney's entrance and exit isn't BAD, but it's not the greatest. Similar with the parking around the school. If they hosted a large game that was holding capacity there, parking would be an issue in my opinion. I forget the name off the top of my head, but the adjacent corporation or whatever it is, sponsored the stadium last year when DJ played Lehman. I'm sure they donated a large amount of coin to put the stadium up.

Yeah the Copeland Corporation is right across the street. With the middle school located pretty closely I think there would be an adequate number of parking, it would just require a little bit of a walk, but it would be nicely paved parking and not parking in lawn areas that could get muddy depending on the weather.

[displacedrocket]

I'd like to ammend my first post. Rather than saying the stands are more elevated I'd say they are steeper. Maybe that's just my perception, but that was how it feels watching a game their. Again this was not meant as a slight to Piqua in any way. They have a very nice stadium in their own right.

[jeffcat-bucki]

displacedrocket, on 18 November 2012 - 11:00 PM, said:

The


Yeah the Copeland Corporation is right across the street. With the middle school located pretty closely I think there would be an adequate number of parking, it would just require a little bit of a walk, but it would be nicely paved parking and not parking in lawn areas that could get muddy depending on the weather.

I parked at the middle school. I don't care about the walk....I'm from Columbus. There is a fair amount of parking there for smaller division games and I don't see it being a problem, but if say a D1 or D2 teams played there, I could see where it would be a problem.

[jeffcat-bucki]

displacedrocket, on 18 November 2012 - 11:03 PM, said:

I'd like to ammend my first post. Rather than saying the stands are more elevated I'd say they are steeper. Maybe that's just my perception, but that was how it feels watching a game their. Again this was not meant as a slight to Piqua in any way. They have a very nice stadium in their own right.

Piqua's stands seem wider to me, and Sidney's seem taller on the home side at least. I wouldn't really say steeper, just taller in general. The other nice thing about Sidney is if there is bad weather or what not, you have a large area for most fans to huddle under by the entrance into the stadium having the overhang and the concessions are covered I believe.

[displacedrocket]

From the Sidney Daily News

The drive to raise $600,000 to install synthetic turf in Sidney Memorial Stadium has enjoyed a solid month of November, according to the Sidney Vespa Quarterback Club, which is leading the effort. At the most recent public update in late October, signed pledge cards and cash had been received totaling $411,080. That total now stands at $490,680 entering Thanksgiving weekend, representing almost 82 percent of goal.


The club is hopeful of a late December announcement of a signed construction contract and a completion goal of early May 2014 in time for Sidney High School commencement on May 24. In its most recent press release, Vespa-QB indicates that a strong finish is imperative to meet the goal and also include include a few extras such as spelling out SIDNEY in one end zone and LEHMAN in the other.


“While we’re hopeful of a few more large donations, we’ll need to bundle many smaller ones to get to the finish line,” said President and Turf Chairman Dave Rose. “Our solicitors will remain active in December. We’ll also have a ‘last call’ in mid-December for anyone who was missed.”


While Sidney, Lehman, and OHSAA playoff football will continue to be be the most visible uses of an enhanced Sidney Memorial Stadium, synthetic turf allows many potential additional activities that are detailed on the Vespa-QB website www.vespaquarterbackclub.com . The turf donor segment of the website has been updated to reflect today’s pledged total. Sixty-eight donors ranging from $100-to-$100,000 are currently included. “We’d like to expand this donor list at all levels,” Rose commented. “Everyone can make a difference.”


The stadium hosted a Lehman home football first-round playoff game almost three weeks ago but can’t be in the mix for neutral site matchups in rounds two, three, and four without synthetic turf. The OHSAA adopted this policy in 2011. With synthetic turf SMS would likely host on all three of those weekends, including state semifinals (round four on Thanksgiving weekend).


“We continue to believe that the addition of synthetic turf will make Sidney Memorial Stadium the best high school football facility in Ohio for teams, fans, and the media. Our location, sight lines, and amenities are already second to none,” Rose concluded.

Link
I still say I'll believe it when I see it, but here's to hoping for playoff games in Sidney 2014!

Edited by displacedrocket, 09 December 2013 - 05:18 PM.

[BlueBuckIjays]

This is one small step for playoff games in Sidney and one giant leap back for multiple playoff games in Wapakoneta. :-)

[displacedrocket]

Haha. I'm obviously biased, but sidney is an infinitely better site for playoffs to wapak. Parking, stadium itself, proximity to I75.