Sunday, November 14, 1999County: Let kids play in new stadium
BY DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati EnquirerMillionaire football players won't be the only people scoring touchdowns in Paul Brown Stadium next year, if Hamilton County commissioners get their way.
Youth football playoffs have been held at Cinergy Field during the weekend after Thanksgiving for several years, and commissioners want that practice to continue at the new, $404 million stadium complex.
A Bengals executive has said the Clermont Northeast Youth Football Association's playoff games might be shipped out to the Bengals' artificial turf practice field next year, so the grass surface inside the stadium wouldn't be torn up.
Troy Blackburn, the Bengals' director of stadium development, said Saturday that the turf issue would be a problem only if the youth games were played in bad weather.
The youth league hasn't even asked to play its games at Paul Brown Stadium next year, he said.
“No inquiry of any kind has been made to us, and certainly no inquiry has been denied,” Mr. Blackburn said. “There's a sensitivity with the natural grass, and all we're saying is that some level of prudence needs to be exercised.
“But assuming we can get the field issue coordinated, we want to work with them.”
Commissioner John Dowlin said the peewee playoffs will be a topic at Monday's commission staff meeting. He wants to know how much muscle the county has when it comes to scheduling events.
“It's incomprehensible,” Mr. Dowlin said. “We're talking about kids who weigh just a little bit, and someone is worried about them tearing up the field.”
Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said new stadiums in Nashville and Jacksonville, Fla., allow college games to be played on their grass fields the day before pro games. Youth football shouldn't pose a problem, he said.
“The short answer is that stadium is a community asset,” Mr. Bedinghaus said. “Our intention from the very beginning was for the facility to be used more than just 10 times a year for Bengals football.”
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