The Bottom Line
By Bill Nestor
Sports Editor
Robert C. Byrd High School has had one of the most productive football programs in North Central WV in recent years. The Flying Eagles have been a difficult team to beat especially when games are played at One Eagle Way where their record has been rather impressive.
The facility has received a long awaited upgrade that will be unveiled this season. A new playing surface has been installed and its impact will be felt by several players and teams at the school according to Athletic Director, Scott Davis. “It’s an opportunity to showcase the great facility that we have. It will allow our soccer teams, track teams, and also our football team to play on a great surface.”
Davis was an assistant basketball coach years ago at RCB and he remembers when there was early talk about the new surface. “When I started coaching here there was talk that it was going to happen and to actually see it going down, it’s pretty exciting. This improvement is not only for the current student athletes it is also utilized by others in the area. It’s exciting for the community as well. The Clarksburg Little Eagles (a youth football squad) come up here and play, Special Olympics (utilize the facility), even the military comes up here on weekends to workout.”
The actual work on the upgrade started in mid June and is being completed currently on the football surface. The new track will see improvements that will start October 1st and are set to be completed on October 15th. The new track will bring new opportunities for the track programs. “We want to start looking at holding our own invitational and possibly get in the running for the regional tournament. We can host some events that will bring revenue and will also bring some people from the community to see what we have here at Byrd.”
In order to make this happen it took a great deal of work from several people, especially Davis. “It’s been a collective unit that has been pushing along. There have been several nights of going to social events and different gatherings including golf tournaments to raise money and obviously it is all coming to fruition.”
The work isn’t over for Davis, as more funds are needed to payoff the project. “We are still a long way away from paying off the debt that we owe the Board of Education. We are still trying to fundraise as much as we can to keep paying that number down.”
It’s apparent that Davis does all that he does for the kids. He always goes the extra mile to ensure that they have the best that he can offer. “The kids are just super excited about it. Now that it is actually there they can walk by the stadium and see it. If nothing else they have a great sense of pride. When they step on the field they are going to know that their facility is one of the top facilities in the state.”
This is a prime example of how hard work does pay off. This is something that this high school can truly be proud of!
That will do it for now. Until next week…take care and God bless!
