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Coach warns Hawkins County board the Churchill field is deteriorating and a safety risk
Summary
Jeremy Jones, a utility district manager and Churchill Middle School head football coach, told the Hawkins County Board of Education the game field is suffering heavy year‑round wear from multiple sports and gym classes and urged using and upgrading the practice field or investing in soil, drainage and irrigation to reduce safety risks.
Jeremy Jones, the head football coach at Churchill Middle School and general manager of First Utility District, Hawkins County, told the Hawkins County Board of Education that the Churchill game field is deteriorating under heavy, year‑round use and is becoming a safety concern.
"My field cannot handle all this wear and tear ... and it's really starting to become a safety issue in my mind," Jones said, describing repeated compaction and torn turf from football, boys' and girls' soccer, gym classes and cross‑country. He asked the board to consider moving more practice and non‑game activity to the lower practice field or to fund soil, drainage and irrigation work to allow the stadium field to recover.
Jones said the school has tried management techniques including overseeding with rye in cooler months and heavy maintenance but lacks the budget for larger rehabilitation projects. He estimated topdressing and seeding work would require bringing in topsoil and making grading and drainage improvements; he described limited athletic funds and volunteer maintenance efforts as insufficient for the scope of work.
Board members and other speakers agreed the practice field could be improved to protect the game field. One board member outlined steps that would be needed to convert the former parking area into a usable practice surface — ripping compacted clay, adding topsoil and installing sprinklers — and suggested the district seek donated irrigation hardware and local contractor support.
The board asked staff to check square‑foot measurements, estimate topsoil needs and include the request on a facilities evaluation list. The discussion closed with the board agreeing to explore cost estimates and potential funding sources, while recognizing volunteers and booster support would continue to be important.
The board did not make a formal funding commitment during the meeting; it directed staff to add the item to an evaluation list for follow‑up.
