AstroTurf finishes new turf project at The Reeve
The facelift to the field at Phil Reeve Stadium was completed within the last week and the new turf is ready for the start of football season.
AstroTurf, headquartered in Dalton, completed the project, which began in early June, in about a month and half last Saturday under the direction of project supervisor Corey King and senior project manager Eric Rice. Also on the project crew was Mauricio Hernandez, Antonio Rangel, Jesus Torres, Paul Stanbridge and Ciriaco Habana.
King said it was a busy last several weeks, but he was proud of the way the project turned out.
“It looks good…I think this is one of the best ones we’ve done yet,” said King, who is a 2004 graduate of Gordon Central High. “We started by tearing the old turf out, cutting it into strips and rolling it up to 60 feet. We fixed some drains and other things, and then we came out and added stone and regraveled the whole field. The new turf arrived on June 26 and we got to work rolling it out and getting everything fit in right. We rolled out the sidelines after that and cut and glued the logos.”
“This summer alone, this is the 47th project I’ve checked on, and this is No. 1 on that list in my opinion,” added Rice, who is a 2003 graduate of Calhoun High and former Yellow Jacket football player. “This is in the top five that I’ve seen in my 10-year career doing it. Grant (Walraven) and
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To compete each rep, each play, every day.
CT:
What date will you hold your official first practice on and when will be the first day in pads?
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July 25 is our first practice. Aug. 1 is our first day in pads.
CORY NIX, Gordon Central, first season CT:
How has the Summer conditioning and lifting program gone so far for your team as far as attendance, enthusiasm and growth or improvement from players?
Our Summer Conditioning and lifting program overall has been great. Obviously, we still have a few more weeks to grind, but as the new head coach at GC I’m very pleased so far with our Summer. My staff and I are trying to change the culture here. After spring ball was over we felt like the next challenge was going to be getting everyone here for workouts consistently all summer long. I’m not going to say that challenge was easy at all, but as of right now we have had around 70 players attend 98% of the workouts. We also had our middle school Warriors the whole month of June come work with us, and there were around 25-30 kids coming at that level. After the dead week, the middle school players have started to work on their own with the middle school coaches. That is all new to those kids, but that’s part of the culture change we are trying to create at GC. We want the relationship between our middle school
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the Touchdown Club designed everything, and Corey’s guys get credit for making it happen.”
The field has a unique look with lighter and darker green turf alternating every five yards. Rice said that is what the Touchdown Club wanted when they started to lay out plans for the new turf.
“They wanted a unique field when they started with everything, talking to us and going back and forth before coming up with the final layout and plans,” said Rice. “This was a lot of work from a lot of people, from the drainage to the turf to the fences. It all got a makeover.
“The original turf that was installed in 2009 was more of the natural grass look, where this is more of a hybrid, blended system. It still has some of that natural grass look and the durability, performance and aesthetics are the best system out there.”
Rice said that the new turf will come with an eight-year warranty, and that he will come by twice a year throughout those eight years to test everything and fix whatever issues may need it.
The original turf was installed in the summer of 2009. The project for the new turf was approved at a Calhoun City Schools Board of Education meeting in late April, and it was paid with funds raised by the Calhoun Touchdown Club, athletic budget funds and general fund budget for maintenance.
Calhoun head coach Hal Lamb said the program is excited to play on the new turf and encouraged by the commitment and high school to be great. As far as the enthusiasm goes, it’s been very high all summer long. The coaches in the first few weeks had to build the enthusiasm, but as the weeks have gone on the players have taken control of it. The growth or improvement part will definitely be known in about two weeks when we max out for results. I can already tell you that I have seen a change in kids’ bodies as far as muscle growth. Coach Matt Williams, my defensive coordinator who came from Milton High, has put together the workouts for this year’s summer program. It’s a very intense program, and the kids have bought into it. Coach TJ Hamilton, our secondary coach, has organized the agility, plyometrics and conditioning part of it. He has done a great job with it, and the kids don’t always enjoy that part of the workout, but they are giving it 100 percent. Overall, I feel good about the direction we are headed in as far as the growth and improvement of our players physically and mentally due to the hard work that they have put in this summer.
CT:
Who are a few players from your team that have stood out to you this Summer based on how hard they have worked or how dedicated they have been?
Honestly, I’m extremely proud of the group as a whole. On the first day of summer workouts, a senior spoke up after the workout was over and said it was the hardest they had ever worked out. He said that to him that was a week’s worth of last year’s workouts in one day. I didn’t know what
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of the school system and the Touchdown Club to the project.
“Our players and coaches are very excited about the new turf at Phil Reeve Stadium,” said Lamb. “Funding for the turf came from a combination of the general fund budget for maintenance along with funds from the athletic budget and was supplemented by the Touchdown Club fundraising efforts. The Board has been setting aside funds for the past several years knowing the turf would need replacing. The school has also set aside season ticket sales for the past few years to build the maintenance fund. We were in desperate need of new turf due to safety concerns and are very thankful we were able to help our student athletes.” to think after he said that because I didn’t know if that meant the next day several of them weren’t going to show up or what. As the days went on and we kept pushing them, they came back for more and more each day. It’s been really awesome to watch how hard they have worked, and I can’t wait to see what type of results come out of it this Fall. These kids are resilient and are hungry for some success. It’s not that easy to pick out just a few players, but here are some players off our team that have stood out and been dedicated this summer: Clayton Hogue, Dawson Lackey, Andy Abernathy, Branson Towe, Ethan Mitchell, Martavius Harris, Corey Dixon, Cam Williams and Dylan Keller. There are so many more to pick to be honest so that’s tough.
CT:
What camps and/or 7-on7 passing dates or tournaments have certain players, position groups or the team been to so far this Summer and which ones will they be attending over the next few weeks?
Since this is Year 1 for me and the new staff, we have really stayed at home a lot this summer. We have so much to install whether it’s offense, defense or special teams that we felt like we needed to concentrate on installation and working out. Before dead week hit, we did go to Southeast Whitfield to participate in a 7-on-7/lineman challenge. I felt like we got better that day, and it was great to see our kids compete against others. We also have thrown twice against Woodland High in the month of June. We head
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Calhoun will begin official practice for the upcoming season on Tuesday (July 25) to start getting ready for the regular season.
The first game on the new turf will be in the opening week of the season when the Jackets host Douglass (Atlanta) at The Reeve. to FCA camp this Thursday which is going to be big for us as a team. Next year I’m sure we will do a lot more during the summer as far as those things. This year we are just trying to establish the culture that we want and teach these kids our systems.
CT:
What will be the emphasis for your team over the next few weeks to close out the Summer program and head into official Fall practice?
We are just going to continue to grind and get better as a team. Like I stated before, I can’t wait to see the results of our maxes in the weight room. Us going to camp at the end of this week is going to be the next big thing before we head into acclimation practices. If we go to camp to compete and during that time strengthen the relationships of this team within, then I feel like we have had a very productive summer. Our motto this season is Burn The Boats. If we continue to burn the boats and win each day that’s in front of us, then I think when the season is over that we are going to like the results. My staff and I are trying to change the culture of this place, and I feel like we are off to a great start so far.
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What date will you hold your official first practice on and when will be the first day in pads?
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Our first official Fall practice is going to be July 25. We will only be in helmets that day and will continue to do that for a total of five days. So our first day of full pads is going to be Aug. 1.