County Mayor Weston Wamp announced as of Tuesday, November 28th that Soddy Daisy High School, Howard High School, Tyner HIgh School, and Ooltewah High School will be the first four schools in Hamilton County to receive turf fields.
County Mayor Wamp decalred,”As was recently announced, but formally being announced today, through an innovative partnership that Corey Garin spearheaded with US Xpress, we’re really excited that Ooltewah and Soddy Daisy turf fields are in the process of being built out.”
The announcement was featured by the local broadcasts and took place at Howard High School on the coveted Reggie Whitefield stadium. The county mayor was joined by County Commissioner Gene-o Shipley, three of Soddy Daisy HIgh School’s best football players, Angela Cass, Jared Hensley, and many other influential people in the Hamilton County Department of Education.
After the brief announcement, there was a short press conference in which we got to interview County Mayor Wamp on the decision to make Soddy Daisy High School one of the first schools to receive a turf field. He explained, “There’s no community that is tighter knit, that takes better care of its facilities than Soddy Daisy.”
The utilization of these field was a mjr factor in these decision of the recipants of turf fields. “I really thought that activity at the school ranging from the band, cheer, the legacy of championship cheerleading squads, not to mention football, and soccer, all the different types of utilization,” said County Mayor Wamp.
The Fund for Excellence was mentioned as a major partner in this endeavor. The Fund for Excellence started in 1988 and provides, “support in the form of fundraising opportunities, program grants, recognition awards, and other means.” (funforexcellence.org).
Although these four schools are the first to get the turf fields, County Mayor Wamp explained, “We intend to fund turf fields, these same redevelopment investments across the county.”
Soddy Daisy High School is the first among many future schools to be presented with this major improvement of Friday Night Lights and it will debut the new and improved stadium in the 2024 football season.
