| Updated: 9/11/2009 3:01 pm |
Published: 9/10/2009 11:33 pm |
The Searcy Lions won't play Friday's home opener at home because the Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning schools about dangerous stadium lights, the same kind of lights at Lion Stadium. Some steel light poles made by Whitco Company out of Texas have cracked and fallen over.
The football field in Searcy is off limits indefinitely. As soon as the Arkansas Activities Association alerted all school districts about the dangerous poles, Searcy got in touch with an inspection company, it came out and checked out the twenty poles at the high school sports complex and football stadium. It says some are defective. So, the district put caution tape up around part of the football stadium’s parking lot so no one is hurt in case the poles fall over before they are removed.
"It was kind of a shocker, but, I mean, we just have to adapt the best way we can,” says senior football player Patrick Bingham.
"First thing I thought is, if we don't play at home, I guess I'll be undefeated at home all year," says Searcy Head Football Coach Tim Harper. "But, no, honestly what we really thought was that it really doesn't matter which field we play on. We just need to go out and be prepared and try to do our very best."
It's Coach Harper's first season at Searcy. He was recruited from Des Arc to help turn the team around and boost Lion pride. Now, he may not get to play at Lion Stadium until 2010. "We always want to put the kids’ safety first, and ensure not only them, but our fans’. It’s important we do that, and we're just glad we found out before something could have happened," says Harper.
Crews have already taken down one light at the high school sports complex. It weighs at least a ton.
Since the lights at Harding don't have problems, Searcy's superintendent is negotiating to play at least some of the home games there and some of the rest at Bald Knob.
Right now, he's waiting for final test results to come back before reopening the field. "There's nothing like being in Lion Stadium, so that I think that it's the sentiment of the student body, and in the event we're fortunate enough to make renovations before the end of the season, we would immediately come home to Lion Stadium," says Superintendent Tony Wood.
Until then, the team's staying positive hoping to beat Batesville Friday.
"Even though it is an away game, we're calling the fans out hoping they will come out in big numbers," says Harper.
Camden Fairview also has the same poles at its football field. The same inspection company checked those poles out, and says they are safe.
Searcy will replace the defective poles, and the money will come out of the school district’s budget. The cost of the basic inspection for the district was $15,620.
