By Ryan Michaels
The Birmingham Times
For the first time in more than 40 years, a football game will be played on Woodlawn High School’s campus.
On Thursday, school officials held a ribbon cutting for the school’s new stadium and field house.
“It means so much to these players, to the student body, the administration and the community to be able to not have to basically play every game on the road …it makes a difference to be able to say this is your house,”,” said Clarence Williams III, the head coach at Woodlawn, who called the ribbon-cutting is a “magical moment in history.”
The new stadium, built at the former site of Woodlawn’s practice field, located on the south side of the school’s campus, has new synthetic turf, new concessions and restrooms for both visitor and home sides, as well as a new 1,900-square-foot area for visiting teams.
Additionally, the new field house includes new coach offices, a “cutting-edge” film review room, a 4,000-square-foot weight room, a training room with sports whirlpools and a laundry room.
Woodlawn Principal Rameka Davis said she appreciated the school system for helping to get the new stadium built.
“I want to just say how excited we are and how grateful we are that Birmingham City Schools has taken the opportunity to make sure that this happens,” Davis said.
Deitric Young, a Woodlawn sophomore who plays multiple positions for the football team, said he was moved when he first set foot inside the new stadium.
“I cried a little bit because it was overwhelming … I just came out here ready to grind, ready to make all these fans out here really appreciate what we’re doing,” Young said.
Demitri Carpenter, a resident who graduated from Woodlawn in 2010, said the moment was “personally.” “Going back 13 years ago, when I was a senior at Woodlawn, it was just a lot of grass and dirt, and you would come out here, and you could get yourself hurt running on the field, and now we have this beautiful facility and this beautiful field to call home,” he said.
Mark Sullivan, Ed.D. superintendent of Birmingham City Schools and a graduate of Woodlawn, said he remembered a saying from his days playing on the school’s football team: “Colonel spirit never dies. Never, never, never.” The new stadium has been “a long time coming,” he said.
“This is a testament to the commitment of our school board members. We want to ensure that all of our facilities are first-rate,” Sullivan said.
The ribbon-cutting was an opportunity to appreciate the work and leadership at BCS and Woodlawn for their students, said Derrick Billups, a Birmingham Board of Education member, and Woodlawn graduate.
“[Everybody is] working together to make sure that our students not only have a quality education, to perform on the fields, but also the field of dreams for the performance outside and off the field as well,” he said.
“We want to continue to focus on improving and increasing the opportunity for our students, make sure they have the best that they possibly can have,” he added.
