With the 2025 KHSAA football season set to begin, 7 teams from Jefferson County Public Schools can't yet play games on their home fields. Here's why:
More than two years since Jefferson County Public Schools announced plans to upgrade athletics facilities at each of its high schools, Manual athletics director David Zuberer still finds himself waiting much like an anxious kid on Christmas morning.
He can see the present but still can’t open it.
“We wish we could have it yesterday,” Zuberer said.
Zuberer is among many JCPS administrators in wait-and-see mode as kickoff for the 2025 high school football season approaches this week.
Because of weather delays delaying turf-field installations, drainage issues and other unforeseen circumstances, seven of 21 JCPS high school football teams are currently unable to play home games this season, leaving athletics directors to find new sites for their contests.
Five of those schools — Doss, Fern Creek, Male, Manual and Waggener — were among the “Phase Two” schools JCPS first announced for renovations in May of 2023.
Central is dealing with a drainage issue on one side of its stadium, and DuBois still is without a true home campus since first opening its doors in 2018.
New turf fields have been installed at all five “Phase One” schools — Central, Jeffersontown, Moore, Pleasure Ridge Park and Shawnee.
Mark Hebert, communications manager for JCPS, said design on the “Phase Three” schools — Atherton, Butler, Eastern, Fairdale, Southern and Valley — is set to begin in the summer of 2026 with construction to follow in 2027.
Long-term JCPS plans call for new school buildings and athletics facilities at Iroquois, Seneca and Western in the next 10 years. (Ballard was not included after private funding allowed it to build a new stadium that opened in 2020.)
“Phase Two” schools originally were told their new fields would be ready in time for August soccer and football games.
“The main issue has been the extreme amount of rain we’ve had through the summer,” Hebert said. “One night of heavy rain prevents work on some fields for days. We’ve also had some other unexpected conditions. For example, the amount of rock removal at both (Fern Creek) and Male. Manual Stadium is a very old site, and we’ve run into old clay sewers and unknown foundation conditions.”
Most installations began in April, but Hebert said starting earlier would have been difficult because “fields are wet through winter and early spring, making working conditions difficult.”
As Waggener athletics director Jamie Dumstorf put it, “You can’t grade mud. Short of putting a giant dome over the place, they couldn’t do it until they had a couple of days of dry weather.”
Here’s an update on each JCPS football team that must wait to play at home:
Central
Football coach Marvin Dantzler said a drainage issue in the home bleachers wouldn’t allow Friday’s season opener against Manual to be moved from Manual Stadium to Central. That game has been moved to Moore.
“When it rains, water kind of sits in the stands,” Dantzler said. “We have to fix that problem because you’re going to have rainy games.”
Dantzler said Central’s soccer teams have been using the stadium for games, with fans using bleachers on the visitor’s side.
Dantzler said he’s optimistic Central will be able to play its first home football game at the stadium Sept. 5 against Butler.
Doss
Doss athletics director Danny McCreedy, who resigned Aug. 15 for a teaching position in Jessamine County, has switched all of the Dragons’ home games to road games.
McCreedy said he was told Doss’ field may not be usable until mid-October.
“With me leaving, I figured it was easier to move them all away,” McCreedy said. “Then maybe they can shuffle them back home if the field is ready.”
The Dragons will open their season Friday at Southern.
DuBois
Athletics director LaKunta Farmer is confident DuBois will move into its new facility off Poplar Level Road — next to Thomas Jefferson Middle School — for the 2026-27 school year.
“I wasn’t a patient person a while ago,” Farmer said. “But I’ve become one. … Whatever they tell me, I don’t put a lot of stock in it. I just wait to see what happens.”
Farmer said the Lions have found temporary sites for their four “home” games this season, with games against Kentucky Country Day (Aug. 29) and Waggener (Sept. 5) at Ballard and contests with Lexington Christian (Oct. 3) and Shawnee (Oct. 24) at Fern Creek, if that facility is finished.
Fern Creek
The Tigers have switched their first two home games to road games — at Seneca on Friday and at Ballard on Sept. 19.
Athletics director Troy Johnson said he’s hopeful the Tigers can return home Sept. 26 for their homecoming game against Atherton.
Johnson said increased travel costs will force him to cut budgets for uniforms and equipment during the 2025-26 school year. He estimated he’ll lose between $12,000-$15,000 in revenues for each of the first two games being moved, although those should be recovered in 2026 when Seneca and Ballard will play at Fern Creek.
Johnson said JCPS isn’t completely to blame for the delays, also mentioning officials at the city and state levels.
“Maybe they bit off a little bit more than they could chew,” Johnson said. “It’s great to have that vision of trying to get all of this done to get our facilities up. With the weather the way it happened this summer … it just seems like maybe they didn’t have enough of the correct amount of people to work all the time.”
Male
Male was scheduled to open its season with two home games but has moved those on the road — at Butler on Friday and at Ballard on Aug. 29.
Athletics director John Kelsey is hopeful the Bulldogs can return home Sept. 19 against Trinity.
“We’re seeing good progress, and we’re staying excited,” Kelsey said. “Can’t wait for it to be finished.”
Kelsey said the soccer, field hockey and football teams have all “had to sacrifice a little bit” in order to conduct practices.
“I’d love to be playing at home, but I’m OK with it,” he said. “It’s like building a house. It doesn’t always get done when you say it’s going to get done. Things happen.”
Manual
Manual has moved its first two games away from Manual Stadium — Friday vs. Central (at Moore) and Aug. 29 vs. South Warren (at Southern).
Zuberer plans for the Crimsons to play their first home game at Manual Stadium on Sept. 26 against Bullitt East.
Zuberer said Manual will still get revenue from ticket sales at Moore and Southern but will lose “several thousands of dollars” in concessions sales.
Perhaps no stadium in the city was in more need of upgrades than Manual Stadium, which opened in 1924.
“This is a short-term issue for a long-term need,” Zuberer said of the delay.
Waggener
Of the “Phase Two” schools, Waggener may be the first to have its field completed.
While Dumstorf already has moved several soccer games to different sites, Waggener could be on schedule to play its first home football game Aug. 29 against Jeffersontown.
If Waggener’s stadium is not ready then, that game will be moved to J’town. Waggener’s second scheduled home game is Sept. 12 against Moore.
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; [email protected]; Follow on X @kyhighs.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA football: Jefferson County Public Schools turf field updates
Category: General Sports
