SALEM TOWNSHIP – If Mt. Abram High School boys soccer coach Darren Allen has his way, his athletes will soon be able to play in nighttime home games with their friends, parents and community members cheering them on.
The varsity teams will no longer have to miss afternoons of class and play in games that happen so early their friends and families cannot get out of work or school to watch. Junior varsity students will no longer spend games on the bench, unable to play in the short 20 minutes allotted before dusk falls.
Allen is on a mission to raise funds to purchase $63,000 worth of lighting for the Mt. Abram High School soccer field, and he is doing all he can to bring his dream to fruition, from planning fundraising events to playing Powerball on a weekly basis, he quipped Thursday.
Soccer is the sport of choice at Mt. Abram, Allen said. This year, more than 80 of the approximately 300 students at the high school were on either a JV or varsity team. Without a football team, all of Mt. Abram’s homecoming events take place around soccer games, and Allen said he believes that if games could be held during times when community members were able to attend them, soccer games could become a social occasion for SAD 58 residents.
Mt. Abram freshman and varsity player Rebecca Freeman agreed, saying that she is excited about the large numbers of fans lighting might draw to games. “We got to rent them one time this year and it brought a huge crowd in,” she said.
The Mt. Abram field has never had permanent lighting, Allen said, but “we did a home night game last year,” using generator powered portable lights. “We had over 200 people there,” he said. “It was very well received.”
Because the field does not currently have lighting, Allen added, varsity games must start in the early afternoon, forcing team members out of classes. Junior varsity games begin between 3:30 and 4 in the afternoon, and are capped at 20 minutes, “because of the lack of sunlight.”
“It’s next to impossible to get everyone in and play in 20 minutes,” he noted.
Allen meets with a group of Mt. Abram parents and community members once a month to discuss fundraising strategies for the lighting campaign, which the group named, “Light the Mountain.”
This winter, Allen said, the group will be holding a fuel oil raffle. Tickets are currently being sold at Mt. Abram basketball games. “The first drawing is on Jan. 7th,” Allen said, “and the two winners will receive $100 worth of fuel.” In the grand prize drawing, held later in the month, someone will win 100 gallons worth of fuel.
When enough money has been raised, Allen said, the group will purchase “top of the line” lights along with a 25-year maintenance guarantee from Musco Lighting of Iowa.
Comments are no longer available on this story