Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Cardinal Stadium: Sports Story Of The Decade
Field. Comfort took a backseat as players sat on benches or the floor.
Now, the spacious film room gives coaches and players a logistical advantage with theater seating for 60 complete with internet access. Projector and computer cables don’t have to be strung across the floor and one whole wall has been made into a giant dry-erase board.
“We can actually draw plays up on the board and erase it. They made it that way on purpose so we could do that,” Harper said while recalling the first time the film room was used.
“It was just a great atmosphere and the kids love it. They’re so excited about it,” Harper said.
Indoor facility
The fieldhouse includes an indoor 60-yard turf football field, which affords all sorts of additional training capabilities.
On an August day with the heat index reaching 108, the Arkansas Activities Association didn’t want teams practicing outside in the heat so the Cardinals moved their practice indoors.
“We came right back in here and we didn’t miss a beat. It’s a really good advantage for us,” Harper said. “This place right here is worth every penny they’ve spent. We’ve come in here when it’s too hot outside. We come in here and it’s not exactly cool, but to have a 60-yard indoor area we can get everything done that we want to. We don’t have to worry about weather.”
The indoor facility keeps the sun off players and coaches. There’s enough room for coaches to put stations or do team drills and even scrimmage 11-on-11.
“It’s been a great advantage for us to have practice in there and to really go from inside to out and not get our kids really, really hot,” Harper said. “This place, it doesn’t have any air (conditioning) obviously, but you open these doors up and you get a great breeze through here and the kids really enjoy it.”
Farmington won’t miss any reps because of the weather and kids are training on the same turf surface they play on.
Other Sports
Harper marvels at the thought that went into construction of the fieldhouse, and foresight going into the project.
“They did a really good job of thinking about other programs. They put the soccer lines inside so that we can have soccer practice in here. They did a really good job of thinking about every program when they built this thing,” Harper said.
Trap doors open up readymade to temporarily install a pole vault pit along with a high jump pit for track and field indoor practice.
“They can do all that stuff in the ground right there,” Harper said. “All they have to do is open the trap door in the floor right here. We can perform track and field and we can run in this building so it even helps us with our track and field program, too.”
Pep Squads
The fieldhouse was designed with an inclusion for senior high and junior high cheer and dance teams in addition to varsity football plus track and field. Each has its own locker rooms and coaches’ offices
“The administration thought that we needed to make sure that we included all programs so they’d have a place to dress,” Harper said while noting soccer locker rooms are in a separate building.
“They did a really good job of thinking about what needs to be where and how to incorporate that to make every program have a management to be successful.”
Laundry Facilities
Even the laundry facilities are top notch, especially from an organization perspective. According to Harper, in the past football had regular washers and dryers, which have now been upgraded to commercial, industrial size washers and dryers. One load can now accomplish what used to require several loads.
“We can wash and get things done a lot quicker,” Harper said. “Every player has an individual cubby ( in the laundry room) so all their practice gear, their game gear, their shorts, all their pads and things can go in there before a game. They come in here and get their stuff.”
Special Seating
Special seating was built into Cardinal Stadium to allow fans, who want to spend a few extra dollars, make sure they get a seat if arriving late for a game. The athletic department sells 180 chairback seats and benchback seats.
“We also have reserve parking that we’re going to have here so you can park closer to the stadium and all that money goes back to our (football) program,” Harper said. “So, if you want to spend a little bit more money and know that you have a chair here in Farmington, you know that you’re going to get here late that’s the way to do it.”
The seating presents a means to reward devoted Farmington Cardinal fans and those involved in planning and construction.
“It’s a way to reward the people that helped build this place, the money that they spent, some of our donation guys it’s a way to reward them also,” Harper said. “I think it’s going to be a good thing.”
Handicap Access
Cardinal Stadium has wheel chair ramps and designated handicapped seating. Handicapped playby-play announcers can get to the press box through an elevator, which goes to the press box, but can be accessed to the upper levels of the stadium, according to Harper.
Press Box
The elevator’s main function enables coaches to travel expediently to and from the press box.
“We can get them up here easy and easy access for the coaches to come up and down and get them up here quick so they don’t have to go down through the stands like we used to,” Harper said.
The press box includes a hospitality section, and from right to left inside the press box: visitor’s coaching box, visitor’s media room, public announcer booth, film deck, home media room, and home coaches’ box.
“We got a state-of-the-art speaker system,” Harper said. “Our scoreboard is second to none, but it takes two or three guys to run the thing.”
Weightroom
Adams is anxious to make use of a large- scale weightroom, which wasn’t completed during the open house, but was finished soon after.
“Having a much bigger weightroom, we’re more well-equipped now,” Adams said. “We can get so much more work done now than before where we only had three or four guys standing around watching somebody else lift. Everybody’s moving all the time so that’s positive.
Summary
Harper touted the in- depth planning from former athletic director Brad Blew, who retired Jan. 31; and outgoing superintendent Bryan Law, whose last day on the job will be June 30.
“I can’t say enough about what they’ve done and how they designed it. Coach Blew did a great job. Mr. Law did a great job of thinking about small, little details that make our place here and, as coaches, we really appreciate that because sometimes they forget about certain things,” Harper said. “They’ve done a really good job of thinking about what needs to be done and then getting it done.”
Nothing was overlooked. Farmington now benefits from a first class facility.
Offseason Benefits
“The biggest thing I’m most excited about having this facility (is) to put our kids through an offseason,” Adams said prior to the covid-19 closure of schools and cancellation of spring sports with the Arkansas Activities Association implementing a dead period through May 30 including closure of school athletic facilities and prohibiting coaches from having any type of face-to-face contact with student-athletes.
Once the dead period is lifted, Farmington can began using its indoor facility for efficient development of its football program at a level that would not be possible without the equipment and facilities contained within the fieldhouse and indoor facility.
During a December interview Adams described a typical offseason day of workouts taking full advantage of the capacities a new sports complex affords a football program.
“In our offseason right now we have a speed development work we do every day. We have weight-training work we do every day and we get to do football work every day so that can do nothing but benefit us and hopefully accelerate our progress.”