CoachFroehlich retweeted
It’s that time of year again throughout the Midwest.
That time when we drive past high schools and see millions of dollars in turf fields sitting under ice and snow for months and months.
And again, I ask: Why are we allowing valuable school assets to sit unused?
Today, I’m going to show you a high school district that reports its rental revenue covers the dome’s operating costs without any taxpayer funding.
We’ll spend 100s of $1,000s of dollars on useless overpriced scoreboards to display graphics a handful of times each year, but we won’t seriously explore investing in seasonal bubble domes that could transform outdoor turf fields into year-round community assets?
Think about the possibilities: PE classes, high school sports, youth programs, senior citizens, community organizations, club sports, camps, tournaments and additional rentals.
When you mix in corporate partnerships, there are more opportunities, access and revenue for more community impact.
And before someone says it can’t be done - because people will always tell you why it can’t before they see it can - look at Minnetonka High School in Minnesota.
The school has been putting its Tonka Dome over its football stadium turf since 2004, typically from November through March.
As I noted earlier, the district reports that rental revenue covers the dome’s operating costs without taxpayer funding.
Think about that. That’s more than two decades of finding ways to maximize an existing school asset for kids, families, the school and community.
Here’s the link, too: minnetonkaschools.org/activi…
Imagine what more schools could accomplish with thoughtful management, creative scheduling, naming rights and community partnerships.
Instead of asking why we can’t do something, perhaps adult school leaders should start asking why we aren’t exploring it?
A turf field shouldn’t become a multimillion-dollar snow-covered decoration for half the year. One that most likely has a useless overpriced scoreboard sitting there with it, utterly useless for half the year.
We need to stop thinking about athletic facilities as places to host games and start thinking about them as year-round assets serving kids, families, schools and entire communities.
#MoreThanJUSTGames
Why haven’t high school districts in #Illinois put a bubble around their turf fields from Nov. 1 to April 1?
It would help on cold days, rain days, winter days and if left up long enough, it would help on heat days, too.
Think of a school like Hinsdale South, Hinsdale Central, Downers North or Reavis in the Chicago region for example that has a free-standing turf field that isn’t able to be used unless the weather cooperates.
All these turf companies are stealing money from districts getting them to buy new turf and then the turf is only used half a year. Tell me what other part of a school building has millions invested in it, and it’s only able to be used half a year by a school district?
You don’t think that turf would last longer - more years - if it was in a controlled environment half the year?
A bubble would help all high school sports programs, the band, local middle school programs, local JROTC and most of all - PE classes during the day.
Think about PE alone, as it’s the one high school course jammed more than any subject half of the school year in Illinois. Unlike classrooms, PE needs a good deal of space.
You have that outside space when the weather is good, but not in the winter or wet spring and fall.
A bubble costs a little more than $2 million and can done at no-additional cost to taxpayers for public schools, as it pays for itself over a 6-7 year window through rentals and an even shorter period of time if corporate naming rights are figured in.
You’re looking at needing to average $1,500-$2,000 in daily rentals during that 150-day stretch each year and a basic corporate naming-rights deal to have the bubble paid off in 7 years to then turn it into a revenue driver for the district so it can help enhance other facilities or programs within the district at no additional cost to taxpayers.
High school districts need to add true marketing leaders to their staff to realize they’re leaving opportunities on the table.
As the youth sports world continues to make deals with local communities and state officials to build facilities that they then gabble up and drive tax revenue, high school districts have valuable pieces of property that they’re misusing half the year because people are not seeing past the tree to see the forest of opportunity.
#MoreThanJUSTGames #IHSA
CoachFroehlich retweeted
‼️ High School Football Reality ‼️
Most people, don’t really understand what it means when a senior football players season ends. They don’t understand the true finality of it for 95% of these young men. You can play baseball/softball/basketball in rec leagues forever. You can always play a game of pick up basketball. You can play golf and tennis as much as you want when you get older. You can run Track and enter a 5K or marathons till you die. But most high school football players will never ever put on a helmet and play the same game again. You go from being totally and completely immersed in a game you love to being totally and completely shut out from it. That is incredibly difficult. Football is not a lifetime sport… but high school football IS a once in a lifetime experience.
Final picture of undefeated WBM JH football team. 6-0. Thank you @IHSAA for complimentary tickets to the semi-finals. Many have fathers, uncles or even grandparents who have won state titles or played for the Wolverines in the dome. Hope to be watching them play here someday.
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That’s a great response. He did different and it upset people. Always does.
🚨🏌️☢️ #BREAKING — Former LIV Golf superstar Bryson DeChambeau breaks his silence after the collapse of LIV Golf 2.0 @BrysonLegion
“I'm not going to rewrite the last four years. I made a decision I believed in, and I'm grateful for what came with it: playing in front of fans new and old around the world who rarely got to see the best players at home. The record crowds in Adelaide and Johannesburg will stick with me for the rest of my life.
I believed this game could reach more people, in more places, in a new way. I still believe that. And I gave it everything I had to keep team golf alive.
I want to say thank you to the people who believed in this from the start: the staff, the operations crews, the caddies, and everyone behind the scenes at LIV and Crushers GC who bet their careers on this. You gave everything. And thank you to my Crushers teammates, our sponsors, and every fan who came out.
I still believe in team golf. It may look different in the future, but I still believe it's essential to growing the game.
Arnold Palmer said no player is bigger than the game, and I want to acknowledge that, along the way, I've said some things that didn't help.
Whatever comes next, I'll approach it with humility and respect for the people who carried this game long before me.
In December, I'll compete at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, Gary Player's event, in front of fans who made my first visit to South Africa unforgettable. Beyond that, I'll go about whatever is next the right way.
My passion has been to grow this game. That's still the goal. Thank you for sticking with me.
Together we can all grow this great game we love.”
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This is fantastic
One of my former students, @aidan_wirtz, caught this legend on the L train after last night’s @HawkeyeFootball win, reciting Nile Kinnick’s Heisman speech. So great.
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Alabama got off the bus, they should move up 2 spots in playoff poll. @NCAAFootball
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Not a better surprise when going through your kids Halloween candy & you find an almond joy.
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CoachFroehlich retweeted
An offensive explosion and a defensive master class. Not to mention the greatest tradition in sports.
It’s absolutely unwatchable.
Yesterday, I announced this will be my last season watching the NFL.
It’s not just the gambling commercials, Jason Kelce, and the international slopification of the sport.
The game isn’t the same. It’s not close to what made it great. The referees control the game with calls and no-calls, just like the NBA.
There is no flow to a game. The natural energy is gone because almost every play is flagged and/or reviewed.
It feels like I spend 3 hours of my life watching 10 minutes of action that is open to subjective interpretations by officials.
It’s really simple; I am no longer entertained, I am annoyed.
The NFL won’t miss me but I won’t miss them either.
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CoachFroehlich retweeted
WWE NFL 🤡.... The #1 rigged and scripted play of the week... Check out Wrestler #31 on defense run up and blatantly block his own teammate out the way... You wont be able to block your karma when you burn 🚫 #NFLRIGGED
CoachFroehlich retweeted
Got to chaperone for my daughters class trip to the pumpkin patch this morning, being a dad is awesome
Weird @NFL that a player who weighs 240 pounds and runs a 4.4 40 hurt his shoulder with paper thin shoulder pads. Get em in league and get em out so you don’t have to pay more in pension for credited seasons.
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