West Orange football will play final 2 home games at Olympia -- Observer Preps

West Orange High athletic director Jerry Shafer confirmed Wednesday evening that the West Orange football team will play its final two home games at nearby Olympia High.

The Warriors' home field on campus has been compromised for the foreseeable future by damage that occurred during Hurricane Irma.

As a result of the storm, two light polls were downed — with one falling onto the playing surface, leaving glass shards embedded in the turf — and a third light pole is concerning officials because of the degree to which it sways in the wind. Additionally, a small hole has appeared behind the north end zone's goalpost, and Shafer said the school is looking into the cause.

Initially, it appeared the team would have to play its final three home games — against Cypress Creek, Timber Creek and Evans, respectively — at the home fields of its opponents.

The game against Cypress Creek, which is scheduled for this Friday, will still be played there, as arrangements have already been made for such. The games against Timber Creek and Evans — on Oct. 9 and Oct. 27, respectively — will take place at Olympia.

As news of what had happened to the field rippled through the community, many supporters of the school reached out to Shafer and the football program, asking how they might help.

"I’m overwhelmed by the open arms and the help, not just from the district, but from the community here," Shafer said. "What a great, great community. Everyday I have someone reaching out and looking to step up and do what needs to be done. Parents that don't even have kids here anymore, they’re all coming back — its amazing."

Many in the community wondered on social media whether anything could be done to salvage at least one of the remaining home games and have it played at Raymond Screws Field. One popular question that some supporters began looking into themselves was whether portable lights could solve the issue of the two downed light poles. Apopka High had one downed light pole and is reportedly playing its home games with the aid of portable lights to offset that one downed pole.

Shafer said the issue with portable lights, relative to the Warriors' specific situation, is that the field at West Orange suffered two downed light poles, and that the third pole administrators are concerned with may need to be replaced, also.

Having portable lights in place of as many as three stadium light poles, and then one traditional stadium light pole, could create shadows that would affect gameplay.

"There's a reason you have those lights up as high as you do," Shafer said.

Additionally, the process for removing the glass shards that are scattered about and embedded in the turf where one of the light poles fell is not as simple as one might think, either.

"You can’t just run a shop-vac over it — there’s a lot of things that go into it," Shafer said.

Administrators at West Orange have been working with Orange County athletic director Doug Patterson — who Shafer said has worked tirelessly on the team's behalf — on a possible solution. While West Orange remains unplayable, the thought was to find an alternative site closer to Winter Garden, so that more Warrior fans might make the drive for the game.

Shafer said multiple schools reached out to him and offered the usage of their field for the two games, leading to the eventual decision that playing the games at Olympia was the best fit because of its proximity. 

"Traveling all the way to Timber Creek (in east Orange County), you’re not going to get a fan base traveling that far on a Monday night," Shafer said. "For Olympia to allow us to use their field, it just goes back to this being bigger than one game or one program — we take care of each other."

The games will operate essentially as any other West Orange home game. The Warriors will be responsible for staffing the usual game-day operations, such as concessions, and will get to keep the proceeds from the gate and concession stands — which is part of the reason it was desirable to relocate the games closer to campus.

As is the case with many athletics programs, football gate revenue is an important source of funding high-school athletics departments and often is critical to funding other sports.