Valley Christian High School to begin stadium upgrade project

Valley Christian High School announced the early stages of an athletics booster club stadium project to create a state-of-the-art field house and athletic performance complex at the school’s football field.

Athletic director Greg Haagsma, head footballc oach Jeff Rutledge and director of communications Bryan Winfrey presented the basics of the project and initial renderings at the school’s annual football banquet on Dec. 15 at San Marcos Resort in Chandler.

The renderings are not finalized, but the tentative plan would create a field house at the site of the football field which includes a 5,300 square foot sports performance room, team theater, new press box, locker room, training room and other amenities and features for student-athletes and the community. The facility will also provide an opportunity to recognize the school’s excellent football alumni and tradition.

Rutledge, a national championship quarterback at the University of Alabama and former college and NFL coach, commented on the project. “This will be an outstanding facility for our student-athletes to train, prepare and compete at,” he said. “As a school and a football program we are committed to excellence in everything we do, this will help us prepare our students physically for excellence and have a lot of positive effect on our school and our community.”

“We already have hundreds of families on campus each week for youth football and other activities, to be able to host them at a facility like this will have a special impact on the school,” Winfrey said at the banquet. “This will put Valley Christian on the radar of a lot of families in the East Valley. It will certainly rival any facility in the Valley.”

The site development will allow for increased use of the site, provide enhanced aesthetic value for the fan experience and surrounding neighborhood while also increasing seating capacity. Most importantly, it will allow Valley Christian to greater serve the students and community.

“We were very excited about the potential to positively impact our school, student and community when the booster club approached us with this concept and plan. Obviously we are in the initial stages of the project and there are a lot of details that still need to be finalized, but we are very excited about the concept and its impact and are grateful for the booster club’s continued investment in our student-athletes,” Haagsma said.

The final cost of the stadium project has not been determined. The school board gave its approval of the project with funding provided through the athletics booster club, not through a school capital campaign.

Valley Christian is also currently in the process of developing the southeast corner of Galveston and 56th Street for a softball facility. The project is the first phase of the school’s campaign to continue to develop the 16-year old campus. Additional phases of that campaign will include the building of a Worship and Performing Arts Center, additional classroom buildings and a renovation and expansion of the gym.

The stadium space is designed to include many sponsorship opportunities at various contribution levels, including the option for stadium and field house naming rights. Valley Christian representatives are happy to meet with individuals or corporations to provide additional information needed in order to make a decision to partner with us on these important projects. Individuals or corporations can begin that process by contacting Troy Thelen, VCHS Legacy Director, at tthelen@vchsaz.org or (480) 705-8888.

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