Wolves Showcase New Fieldhouse

LINCOLN DEVELOPMENTS PROMOTE FOOTBALL PROGRAM

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Lincoln head football coach Don Harrison carries a barbell as the Wolves move weight lifting equipment into their new Football Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Lincoln head football coach Don Harrison carries a barbell as the Wolves move weight lifting equipment into their new Football Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

LINCOLN -- Completion of the new Lincoln Football Fieldhouse adds up to one thing, a sure-fire sign the Wolves' program holds serious aspirations about competing to consistently reach the playoffs

Last Tuesday, Sept. 5, Lincoln staged an open house to showcase the Wolves' brand new Football Fieldhouse. The building, situated behind Lincoln High School and adjacent to Wolfpack Stadium, features separate locker rooms for the varsity and junior high, an individual office for head coach Don Harrison and a larger office for assistant coaches, plus a new weight room carpeted by artificial turf. There is enough room the Wolves could hold a limited 11-on-11 scrimmage indoors on artificial turf in the event of bad weather.

"We don't have a lot of room in here, but we decided to do this," Harrison said. "We actually saved the school some money as opposed to pouring concrete in here. We really like the look of it and the feel of it."

High school teams harboring ambition to play football in December better have a contingency plan, in the purest sense of the word. Contingency is defined as a future event or circumstance that is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty. Erection of a new Football Fieldhouse makes a statement like nothing else that Lincoln wants to take their football program to another level.

Should the Wolves host a home playoff game as they did Nov. 15, 2013 (a 27-13 win over Nashville), players and coaches can warm up and refocus at halftime. That is more easily accomplished when a team can get in out of the weather.

"We definitely won't have them hovering under tents in the cold," said Lincoln superintendent Mary Ann Spears.

Spears said the facility makes the daily practice schedule flow better. She cited two key advantages, "Not having to transport kids back and forth in the school day and our coaches not having to move around."

"We're excited to have it all done," Spears said.

Harrison is elated about having artificial turf on the floor of the weight room.

"We wanted this as a coaching staff," Harrison said. "We are going to play on this (artificial turf), we wanted to lift on it, too. We just had the guys, who put the turf on the field, put down the same surface in here."

Assistant football coach and head softball coach Beau Collins believes the new facility adds a dimension to home-field advantage.

"We're excited to have a place to call home, it makes it a little easier," Collins said. "The kids live here. Having the new fieldhouse gives them a little more ownership of it. Then, we get to practice on the same field we play on, that makes it a lot better."

Strength and conditioning coach Stan Karber described having the new fieldhouse as "awesome."

"The weight room we had over there was small and condensed," Karber said. "We went from 1,500-square-feet tops over there to 4,000 square feet with new weights. It's going to be awesome."

Erwin Starts had been coaching in Oklahoma before taking a job on Lincoln's staff as wide receiver/defensive back coach.

"One of the things that attracted me was when I heard of all the new updates to facilities," Starts said. "When you have an administration and a community investing in their athletes I knew I want to be a part of it."

Lincoln athletic director Deon Birkes has overseen the Fieldhouse project along with installation of artificial turf at Wolfpack Stadium. He wanted to avoid taking shortcuts that might come back to bite later on. Birkes said one of his favorite Bible scriptures is James 1:4, " But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

In logistical terms, Lincoln has given their athletes and coaches tools to succeed.

Sports on 09/13/2017