Rockvale football artificial turf project to also include video scoreboard

While Rockvale will be the one of the last Rutherford County schools to get artificial turf on its football field, it may be the program that needed it the most.

Rockvale has secured around $800,000 of the more than $1.2 million for a project that will add both artificial turf, but also a new video scoreboard to the football stadium.

With space and practice facilities having been less than adequate since the school opened, it's been a long time coming for Rockvale, in its fifth year of existence.

"Since we are a relatively new school, we do not have the athletic facilities that the other schools have in the county," Rockvale football coach Brian Guthrie said. "Our kids deserve something that they can have pride in.

"The biggest reason we've needed it is for extra practice area. We spent $65,000 on a practice field that's only 85 yards long. That's kind of small for varsity team, then you add a freshman team that needs a place to practice and a soccer team that needs a place to practice. We're land-locked. There's not a lot of space. This gives us a a lot of space to practice on."

The project will be done by Smyrna's Warner's Athletic Construction, which will use turf from Shaw Sports Turf. Construction is set to begin in mid-May and wrap up by early August.

The football field, which will sport the school's blue and white colors and don the Rockvale logo at midfield, will also be unique in having a background shade of the American flag from end zone to end zone.

That design collaborates with the school's emphasis on military.

"In the 1940s, the students voted to call themselves the Rockvale Rockets in honor of their classmates that were overseas fighting in World War II, so we have a strong military background here in Rockvale and we wanted to honor that tradition with our field design," Guthrie said. "We do an athletic hall of fame, but we also do a military hall of fame for Rockvale military people. We try to embrace that."

The turf will also be different than what other schools have, as Rockvale will go with Game On Performance Turf, which limits the number of seams and offers more design opportunities, such as the American flag the Rockets will have.

"It's less cutting and gluing and less seams," Guthrie said. "Hopefully a less chance of failure."

MORE:Riverdale football latest in Rutherford County to add artificial turf

Rockvale secured a bank loan for the project from Volunteer State bank, which also donated $100,000 to the cause. McGuire Management Group donated $150,000 to the Rockets.

Other donations and money the team still hopes to procure for the project will be displayed with advertisements on the field, similar to the other schools in the area that have turf.

About $150,000 to $200,000 of the fundraising effort will go toward a new scoreboard that will have a video board at the top. The scoreboard will be relocated to the opposite end of the stadium from where the original has been.

"A discus cage will be added to the far end of the field to help our incredible track program and allow us to host the state track championships," Guthrie said.