Amory football prepares to play at home away from home
Football fans tend to have a gameday routine but for some, that routine may look a lot different, especially in Amory where tornado relief continues.
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Football fans tend to have a game day routine but for some, that routine may look a lot different, especially in Amory where tornado relief continues.
It’s impossible to get a home-field advantage when your team has no field to call home. However, Tupelo High School wanted to make sure that the Amory Panthers had an opportunity to be the home team away from home.
What was once home to the Amory Panthers’ football squad, is now in ruins from the March tornado that ripped through the town.
“It was unplayable,” said Amory Athletic Director Chad Williams. “We don’t know if our sprinkler system works anymore. A lot of the baseball field debris and the press box was lying in the middle. There was debris still out there. About four weeks ago there was still debris out there.”
The Panthers were making do with what they still had, which wasn’t much.
“We weren’t able to meet, chalk-talk and walk through like we normally do in the springtime so, we’ve had to catch up,” said Amory Head Football Coach Brooks Dampeer.
The damage impacts more than just the football team.
“Baseball and softball, they don’t have dressing rooms,” Williams said. “Soccer, they’re on the field, but they can’t do anything once the time changes They’re not gonna be able to get out there until we get our lights fixed. Basketball, they’re having to share the gym with junior high and girls basketball. Volleyball has been going to a nearby church to let them use their gym. Tennis, there’s no fence around there.”
With all these obstacles, the faculty at Tupelo High School decided to share their field with their neighbors up the road, the Amory Panthers.
“One way we could help was offering them a field that they could play on,” said Tupelo Athletic Director Jason Miller. “It gives them some sense of normalcy to have some home games even though it’s on the road.”
“We pride ourselves on holding our students to a high expectation of being good citizens, and students and helping out when there is a need for help,” said Tupelo Principal Dr. Melissa Thomas. “What better way to show them than extending a helping hand to our neighbors in Amory.”
The staff at Amory is thankful to Tupelo High School and the city.
“At some point, Amory will want to reach out and help others in that situation so we’re very thankful,” Dampeer said. “But it’s not just Tupelo, there’s been people all over the county and locally that tried to help us. We’re very thankful to partner with Tupelo and play our home games there this year.”
The Panthers’ first home game in Tupelo will be against Saltillo on August 31. The schedules will not collide because the Panthers play on Thursday nights and the Golden Wave plays on Friday nights.
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