A school in Johnson County, Missouri, is seeking $2 million to repair its football field

KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.

What would you do with $2 million? Crest Ridge School has its answers: a new soccer field.

A small school district is participating in a national campaign through T-Mobile to win a cash prize. If it wins the Friday Night 5G Lights competition, the school will receive $2 million to upgrade its athletic facilities.

Field at Crest Ridge Schools has an obvious problem: a 36-inch hump.

“So I’m not a very tall person, but if you stand on one side and I’m on the other, you can barely see half of my body. Not only that, but there are some craters in it, outside the football field. We’ve seen some really bad injuries there, just because it’s not a very safe environment on the pitch,” said assistant football coach Dylan Skeens.

Coach Dylan Skeens — Assistant coach Dylan Skeens

The field was developed by local farmers in 1982. Apart from minor work related to repairing the hump, no major renovations were carried out there.

Players like seniors James Shelton and Adian Basham say they face difficulties during practices and home games.

“Just block the exit. It’s hard to keep your feet steady. There are a lot of holes,” senior James Shelton said.

“I’m not going to lie, playing on different pitches, you know, it’s a lot better. But whenever you’re playing on it, it’s pretty hard to catch the ball when the quarterback is climbing to the top of the peak down here trying to catch it because he’s throwing it a lot lower than he thinks he’s throwing it. Basham said.

Adrian Basham — Young soccer player Adian Basham

Coach Skeens said that if the school wins, he will create a flat turf field, upgrade the weight room and add more seating. Basham said the weights they like to use are broken. Additionally, the school claims to accommodate over 600 people on a Friday evening when it can only accommodate about 400 people.

“We really need more capacity because it won’t accommodate all the people we need. We always have people sitting in chairs all over the field and everyone is everywhere on the track,” Basham said.

According to Coach Skeens, it’s not just the high school that uses the field. It is used six days a week from youth soccer teams through high school. The new facilities would therefore benefit the entire community.

“I have a lot of self-confidence. This whole competition really brought our community together. Great moment,” Skeens said.

To help Crest Ridge, people must like it this video on Instagram. If it is shared with a story or someone else, it will get even more votes. Currently working at school 4th place.

The Friday Night 5G Lights competition organized by T-Mobile will end on November 12.