The Hewitt Trussville High School Lacrosse teams have been asking for permission to play home Lacrosse games at the Hewitt Trussville High School Stadium for over 3 years.  This is a state-of-the-art $14,000,000.00 dollar stadium that is currently being paid for by the city, and ultimately the taxpayers.  We were originally told by the city council that there was an agreement in place that gives the school the authority to decide who can have access to the field.  Currently, the school only allows the Football team and Track and Field access to play on the stadium field.  It has recently been discovered that there is no written agreement between the school and the city giving the school the decision-making ability regarding who can have access to the stadium.  We would like to show the city and the school system that the residents of Trussville would like to see more teams have access to this facility.  We hope that now that it has come to light that there was never a formal written agreement, that the city and the school system will come to an agreement to allow more students and residents access to this wonderful facility. 

We have been given many concerns as to why they did not want to allow us to play on the field.  We feel that we have adequately addressed these concerns and they should no longer be issues.  We were originally told that the paint to line the field would damage the turf.  We contacted the manufacturer and there are several temporary chalk paints that can easily be removed by water and will not damage the field.  Then we were told that the wear and tear would damage the field.  We are only asking to play home games at the stadium.  That would be maximum of 12 games or about 20 hours.  The football team practices on the field more in a week than we would want to use it in a year.  In addition, we have a million dollar insurance policy to cover any damage that might be caused to the field.  Thousands of lacrosse teams across the country play on turf fields ever single day without any issues.  Turf fields are the preferred field type for Lacrosse teams.  We have also been told that we can’t use the field because we are not a sanctioned sport.  We have several answers to this excuse.  First, we have been told that in the past soccer has asked to practice on the field when their field is too wet, and they have also been denied (and they are sanctioned).  Second, there are 7 high school lacrosse teams in the Birmingham area, they have all been allowed access to their stadiums and none of them are sanctioned. Third, they have allowed the powerpuff football team to play on the field and last time we checked they are also not sanctioned.  Finally, the stadium was not paid for by the athletic department or the school system.  It is paid for by the city.  Residents and students of the city of Trussville should all have the opportunity to use this state-of-the-art facility, not just a few students who play sanctioned sports.  The last excuse they have given when denying our request is that it cost money to light the stadium.  We totally understand that concern and we are willing to raise money to paid to have the lights turned on and the stadium cleaned. 

Quite honestly, we are surprised that this is such a big issue.  It should be a no brainer.  The HTHS Lacrosse team wants to host their home games in our state-of-the-art Stadium.  Why?  Because it is a beautiful stadium.  It is also the only field in Trussville that has artificial turf, which is the best field for lacrosse.  We feel we have adequately addressed all concerns and yet they are still denying us access.  They would rather have the stadium sit dark and empty, then allow students of Hewitt Trussville High School access to the field.  Is that the best use of the city of Trussville’s investment?  Please sign our petition to show your support of allowing Lacrosse and other school or city sports access to the stadium.