Students, parents and staff from the Three Rivers Local School District joined Cincinnati Bengals executives and players on August 30 to announce the receipt of a $200,000 grant that will help to build a new football field at the new Three Rivers School. The announcement will occur prior to the kickoff of the Taylor vs. Lawrenceburg football game at 6:40 p.m. at the Taylor High School football field at 36 East Harrison Ave in North Bend, Ohio.
Cincinnati Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn, director of development Bob Bedinghaus, representatives of LISC, Three Rivers officials as well as representatives of the Three Rivers "Fields of Dreams" campaign, will all be on hand to celebrate the announcement.
The Bengals, the NFL, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) will provide the district with a $200,000 grant for the project, which includes installation of a synthetic playing surface on the field, site of nearly all of the district's youth athletic events.
"We are very excited to play a role in this project. Several years ago, Three Rivers Schools embarked on a bold vision and together with the Fields of Dreams campaign, they have brought to this community something special," Blackburn said.
The new field will allow expanded usage for all school football and soccer teams, and also allow the high school band more practice time on the competition field. Additionally, the school will use the field as part of its physical education curriculum, as well as provide space for community youth football, cheerleading and soccer programs.
The cost of the project will be paid for entirely by private funds. The school district's administration, staff, booster organizations and community leaders have formed a "Fields of Dreams" campaign to privately raise money for the sports complex. The campaign has already raised $360,000 to go toward the remaining costs of installing the synthetic turf. The field construction is expected to start by the spring of 2014.
"What a great day for Three Rivers! What a gift," Superintendent Rhonda Bohannon said. "We would like to thank the NFL, the Bengals, and LISC for this grant. With the help of this NFL grant and Fields of Dreams donations, our community can build a world-class stadium at the Three Rivers Educational Campus. When you dream big, see what can happen."
The NFL Grassroots Program—a partnership between the NFL Foundation (formerly the NFL Youth Football Fund) and LISC, the nation's leading community development support corporation—has resulted in the construction or renovation of 170 football fields nationwide in the past decade.
Fields are newly built or significantly renovated, with improvements such as irrigation systems, lights, bleachers, scoreboards, goal posts and turf. Grassroots grants are issued once established funding thresholds are reached for each project.
ABOUT THREE RIVERS PROJECT
The Three Rivers complex serves as the community center for almost all of the district's youth athletic activities. The current field at Taylor High School is over 75 years old and consists of a natural turf field, lighting on old wooden electric poles, and aluminum and concrete bleachers for approx. 1200 people. The site of the proposed new field is an abandoned water well field that had been vacant for over a decade before Three Rivers leveled it and raised it out of the floodplain as part of the construction of their new educational complex. The new field will allow expanded usage for all school and community youth football teams, for all school soccer teams and also allow the high school band more practice time on the competition field. The cost of the project will be paid for by private funds. The Fields of Dreams campaign has secured financing of up to $360,000 for this project.
ABOUT THE NFL GRASSROOTS PROGRAM
The NFL Grassroots Program, a partnership between the NFL Foundation and LISC, the nation's leading community development support corporation, has resulted in the construction or renovation of 170 football fields nationwide in the past decade. In the last 10 years, the NFL Youth Football Fund has granted over $20 million to revitalize playing fields in underserved neighborhoods. Fields are newly built or significantly renovated, with improvements such as irrigation systems, lights, bleachers, scoreboards, goal posts and turf.
ABOUT THE NFL FOUNDATION
Established in 1998 by the NFL in collaboration with the NFL Players Association, the NFL Foundation promotes positive youth development, while ensuring the health and future of football at the grassroots level. Through funding by the NFL Foundation, many youth programs such as NFLHS.com and Coach of the Week have been developed, providing youngsters with opportunities to learn the game of football, get physically fit and stay involved in productive after-school activities with adult mentors.
ABOUT LISC
LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help nonprofit community development corporations revitalize underserved neighborhoods. Since 1980, LISC has raised more than $6 billion to build or rehab nearly 160,000 affordable homes and develop 25 million square feet of retail, community and educational space nationwide. LISC has been active in the greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky region since 2000. For more information, visit lisc.org/greatercincinnati.
