National Finalist
Wyoming City Schools
Cincinnati, OH
 Wyoming, Ohio - Trees and hills, natural beauty, a residential community, 2.8 square miles, 3,300 households, 7,800 residents, schools are the cornerstone of the community, expectation of excellence in education. This brief description paints a picture of the Wyoming City School District and its community. With five school buildings, the High School is located in the center of town on approximately 4 acres. There is no room for expansion, only renovation. Family homes surround the school and the athletic facility. Wyoming sports are the focus of activity for families with children of all ages and for the empty-nesters who support the school system. Friday night football, soccer games, band practice, recreational youth sports and now, with the new facility, lacrosse. Our dream of a new field did come true but not overnight. Phase one of renovating our athletic complex occurred when our Wyoming School Foundation spearheaded a fund drive which raised over $1 million dollars. They contacted and involved residents and alumni from all over the country. However, in the end there was not enough money for the entire renovation, especially for the turf field. So we waited, and waited - always holding on to our dream! Then in 2005, the voters of the community came through with a positive levy vote. Our community clearly embraced the concept of installing the synthetic turf field. They saw the benefits and were willing to pass a permanent improvement levy to realize our collective dream. We now have a safe, year round environment which is used by both the residents and youth of our community everyday.
The field made the complex. We added new lighting, a baseball field, a softball field, and exterior fencing during phase one. Phase two included new bleachers, a new press box, a six lane all weather track and the synthetic turf field. The field is what made it complete. We would have over 60 events in the fall and the field would be nothing but dirt by the end of the fall season. We would not allow anyone on the field for practices due to the number of events on the grass. We were not able to add lacrosse because the spring was our growing season for the grass field. No one was allowed to use the field from November through July to get the field ready for the fall season and 60 events. We are a small, land locked, community and had very little practice area. Our 80 football players, 9-12 would practice in left field of baseball and our 80 boys and girls soccer players would practice in right field of baseball. They now all practice on the synthetic turf field. There were times in the late fall, when we had rainy weather, that the football team couldn't find a place to run a play to get ready to play their big rival, who had a turf field and had no problem getting ready for us. This was a tremendous disadvantage to our programs. We have now added lacrosse for boys and girls in the spring and have over 70 athletes playing the sport. We now have a place to hold a practice in the fall and we now have a much better and safer playing surface for our baseball team because we are not wearing out the outfield in the fall. This has been a tremendous boost to our overall program at Wyoming.
The field has had a tremendous impact on our community as a whole. There is a renewed sense of pride in our athletic programs. The field is used constantly, you see kids and adults on the field 24-7. We keep the field open to the public year round. Soccer games, lacrosse games, touch football games, people working out. The only thing that changed for the negative is that we no longer allow dogs in the complex. As an athletic director I look at that as a plus but some of our community had to change their habits. The field has been a tremendous addition to the community of Wyoming, Ohio.
Our campaign to raise the dollars to install this complex was entitled "The Field of Dreams" campaign. The community would hear this title every day. People would come up to me, as athletic director, and say "you finally got your field of dreams", or "this is truly a field of dreams". My brother is the head football coach and his comment before the field was that "it will never happen". Well it was fun proving him wrong-we really did achieve our dream. The difference in the facility is literally like night and day. We smile every time we walk out to the complex.
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