Field of Dreams | News, Sports, Jobs – The Sentinel – Lewistown Sentinel
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Submitted graphic
An artist rendering of the proposed athletic facilities for Mifflin County High School. The main field will be in front of the high school, where the track is currently, right, with a second field on the former Highland Park Elementary School property.
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LEWISTOWN — Tish Maclay played and coached field hockey on the same hard surface adjacent to Mifflin County Junior High School.
Since becoming the school district’s athletic director, it has been her desire — her goal — to leave behind a world-class facility for the students of the future. On Wednesday, she was all smiles as the proposal took a big step toward fruition.
State Sen. Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte), Mifflin County Superintendent Vance Varner and local business owner John Pannizzo — who chairs the stadium committee that is raising funds to contribute toward the project — formally announced a $3 million grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development that, along with school district and private funds, will be used to build a new athletic complex.
Once completed, the proposed complex will serve Mifflin County’s 1,500 student athletes and the larger student body as a whole, along with youth programs and community members who will have access to the facilities.
“It’s going to be impressive. Both fields are going to have artificial turf and stadium lighting,” Varner said.
He also conceded this is a project that is probably more than the district could do without outside funding — but something that will benefit more than a few individuals. It will be something to offer, he said — a draw for the community.
And, it will put the school — which competes in the state’s largest athletic classification and one of the state’s premier athletic conferences — on equal footing with its peers.
“Mifflin County High School is a 6A school. Unfortunately, we do not have 6A program facilities,” he said. “Our students and our community members deserve better.”
Pannizzo, who along with Joel Diamond and the late Don Chapman III approached the district with the public-private partner idea, echoed Varner’s comments about the complex being a destination in the county.
“Athletics brings in thousands of people a year to our home. It’s one of the top tourism draws in our community. Our facilities are what our visitors remember us by,” he said.
And while the indoor facilities at the high school that opened a decade ago are top tier, the aging, and in the eyes of some, inadequate, facilities outdoors do not leave a good impression.
“We got together and decided we wanted to change that,” he said, noting that 87% of PIAA schools of similar size have turf fields. “Today, we join that majority.”
A presentation that the group made points out that only two school districts in PIAA District 6 that field teams in the PIAA’s three upper classes do not have turf fields — Mifflin County and Juniata County. And, the presentation states, it’s a safety issue — playing on modern surfaces drastically reduces ACL injuries and concussions.
Corman, who is retiring from the senate at the end of his current term, said he considers Mifflin County among the strongest areas of support in his district, and that he is impressed that the …….
Source: https://www.lewistownsentinel.com/news/local-news/2022/08/field-of-dreams/
Submitted graphicAn artist rendering of the proposed athletic facilities for Mifflin County High School. The main field will be in front of the high school, where the track is currently, right, with a second field on the former Highland Park Elementary School property.
LEWISTOWN — Tish Maclay played and coached field hockey on the same hard surface adjacent to Mifflin County Junior High School.
Since becoming the school district’s athletic director, it has been her desire — her goal — to leave behind a world-class facility for the students of the future. On Wednesday, she was all smiles as the proposal…….
Submitted graphicAn artist rendering of the proposed athletic facilities for Mifflin County High School. The main field will be in front of the high school, where the track is currently, right, with a second field on the former Highland Park Elementary School property.
LEWISTOWN — Tish Maclay played and coached field hockey on the same hard surface adjacent to Mifflin County Junior High School.
Since becoming the school district’s athletic director, it has been her desire — her goal — to leave behind a world-class facility for the students of the future. On Wednesday, she was all smiles as the proposal…….