AJC > Sports > Highschools > Blog > Archives > 2006 > December > 13 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.US‘Home’ not sweet to Hornets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Because it is the higher seed, Roswell will be the home team in Saturday’s Class AAAAA championship game. However, because Roswell does not have a stadium with the GHSA-required 6,000 seats, Roswell will not be playing at home.
Roswell will be playing Peachtree Ridge at McEachern High School. Roswell coach Tim McFarlin is not happy about it.
“I am disappointed, very disappointed we can’t play at Roswell,” he said. “You don’t get a chance to play for a state championship very often. The GHSA has chosen to go this route as far as seating capacity and we don’t have any other options.
“We’re not trying to think about it. We’d rather lock in on the football game. If we spend too much time complaining, then it’s not good for the kids.”
Whose side do you take on this issue? Is the GHSA rule a good one?
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: State Finals
Comments
By Thanks GHSA
December 13, 2006 03:39 PM | Link to this
The rule was basically put into place for those schools in the advanced rounds of the playoffs that might have had a very limited seating capacity. Thus a site with 6k or more would be chosen. The GHSA should have allowed for schools with significant seating like Roswell to bring in a manageable # of temp bleachers professionally installed for safety to meet the 6k requirement. The GHSA really screwed up on this one and they have gotten very bad press. I would say that it is a give that this will be revised in the off-season..
By NoFan
December 13, 2006 04:21 PM | Link to this
You should have built more stands rather than put sprint turf in. Your stadium is a joke, the vistors side won’t hold but about 500 people. You have no room to complain about not playing at home. DEAL WITH IT>
By Dan Mac
December 13, 2006 04:42 PM | Link to this
Yo NoFan, not even half of those 500 seats on the visitor’s side ever gets used, including the first round play offs against Collins Hill - there were plenty of seats.
By HornetDad
December 13, 2006 04:49 PM | Link to this
True that we don’t have adequate visitor stands and we know that P’tree Ridge will bring a big crowd as we were in a grid lock squeeze trying to get out of the Dome as they were trying to get in. (felt like a South American Soccer Game crowd).
But, until now we haven’t needed the extra capacity, where as the turf has been used regularly for Roswell and many other games (such as Fellowship Christian last year and Jr. Hornets). In fact there is no stadium in Fulton Co. that meets the requirement. Temporary seating is a reasonable solution for a temporary problem.
But since this group has won two other championship games at McEachern, we are quite comfortable going back. The big Indian treats us right.
By Roswell Resident
December 14, 2006 10:26 AM | Link to this
Roswell stadium has sprint-turf, electronic scoreboard, large concession stands and rest room facilities for home and visitors.The community and booster club needs to put up the dollars needed to build suitable visitor stands to comply with the GSHA standards and provide comfort for our visiting fans.This projects needs immediate attention, playing a home state championship game at McEachern is a shame!!
By roswell alum
December 16, 2006 09:05 PM | Link to this
It wouldnt surprise me if roswell has tried to correct the problem in the past but were unable to because we have a ball and chain attached to us otherwise known as S. Fulton County. When roswell tried to build a fieldhouse in the late 90s they were not allowed to bc it “wasnt fair” to the rest of the schools in Fulton County. As soon as we can raise enough money to put in additional bleachers for Tri-Cities, Banneker, Mays etc…we will be happy to satisfy the GHSA requirements.
Although roswell should add additional seating, it is a shame they arent able to host the state championship.