DeKalb County High School’s Dr. John L. Van Hooser Memorial Stadium is looking better than ever, and football fans will notice some big changes this upcoming football season. Work crews, coaches, and even some parents have been working hard transforming the stadium to something DeKalb has never seen before.
The stadium recently saw the addition of new field lights, and now, with school officially over with, the old home bleachers have been removed in preparation for a new, larger seating area.
“Over the last two Saturdays we have been out here and were able to get all of the old bleachers out of the way and this week they have started the grade work for the concrete pad for the new bleachers,” said Tigers Head Football Coach Steve Trapp.
“Before we probably could have seated about 600 people on the home side, but we are more than doubling that,” Trapp explained. “We should have about 1,300 seats on the home side with the new bleachers. There will be somewhere around 150 to 156 VIP seats on the low section under the press box in the middle.”
“They will stretch from 14-yard-line to 14-yard-line, and all of the area in front of the concession stand will be concreted. It will be a kind of concourse area where we might sit some tables there. It’s going to clean things up on the home side,” Trapp said.
With the new bleachers, the football program is also updating the Dr. Jere Hale Press Box. Coach Trapp explained that with last year’s addition of a new video scoreboard, and a newly installed lighting system, the old press box was becoming too cramped.
“The new addition to the press box is in the works right now,” Coach Trapp said. “With the new light system, we have to control those with a new control panel, plus a new video board we got last year. We have to have people to run those, plus our scoreboard operator, PA announcer, the radio station, DTC, my coaches and camera crew. It’s got pretty packed in there. To make everything feasible, and have a good spot to work in, we’re adding a third level to the press box.”
New field lighting has already been installed and is in operation, and Coach Trapp said he is very appreciative of that. “I want to thank everyone for all the help. Smithville Electric and the crew that installed the lights started at the end of March and made sure they were up and ready to go before graduation. There’s more things the light will do, but we’re kind of saving that for the start of football season. They blink and flash which will be fun.”
“We are grateful for all the help from Smithville Electric System and the crew that came in and put up all the lights. The project started at the end of March and we got them up to make sure they were ready to go by graduation,” he said.
Trapp said that just removing the old lights will make for better viewing of games. “Just getting rid of the old poles from the old lights, the sight lines are so much nicer here at the stadium now. It’s just going to be a whole lot cleaner looking stadium now, and I’m happy for the people of DeKalb County because ultimately that is what this is for. It’s for them to come to a game and be comfortable, and we want to see what this place looks like when it is sold out.”
A new video board was installed prior to last season, and Coach Trapp said the team hopes to utilize it a little more this season. “The thing we’re going to try to do this year is to have some live ads on the video board. We had one ad last year, but we want to have a few more this season. If there is anyone out there interested in a commercial, just call or email me.”
Coach Trapp said there are many people to thank for the upgrades to the stadium. “Everything that has been done couldn’t have taken place without the fans coming to watch, and that’s not just high school ball but also Junior Pro ball. I want to thank that organization. They’ve always helped us out financially and for people able to work and get things done.”
“All the parents that we’ve had in the Booster Club over the years. There’s been so many of them that’s got their hands dirty and bloody helping us work and build things. Ultimately we wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the blessing of the School Board and I want to thank them for the biggest impact we will have, the bleachers and the lights. That’s something we couldn’t have done on our own.”
The Tigers new season will begin on Friday, August 18, at Warren County, with the home opener scheduled for August 25 against Smith County.
The DCHS 2023 Football Schedule is as follows:
REGION OPPONENTS (*)
August 18: Warren County- McMinnville 7 p.m.
August 25: Smith County-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 1: Livingston Academy*-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 8: Watertown-Watertown 7 p.m.
September 15: Gordonsville (Homecoming)- Smithville 7 p.m.
September 22: Stone Memorial*-Away 7 p.m.
September 29: Macon County*-Smithville 7 p.m.
October 6: Cumberland County*-Smithville 7 p.m.
October 13: BYE WEEK
October 20: White County*-Sparta 7 p.m.
October 27: Upperman* Baxter 7 p.m.
