It wasn’t nostalgic, but there was an air of familiarity when Allen took to the practice field for the first time in the 2014 season. Familiar, as in the stomping grounds: Allen was back on the turf at “Old” Eagle Stadium, a field supplanted two seasons ago with the opening of the $60 million stadium right up Greenville Avenue.
Allen’s palatial new stadium has been closed since the spring after significant “engineering failures” were discovered. The two-time defending state champs won’t play a home football game in 2014 while repairs are made, instead playing “home” games in Plano ISD’s Kimbrough Stadium and Clark Field.
The only varsity high football game this season in Allen will be in two weeks, when Allen hosts Arlington Martin in a scrimmage on Aug. 22, at the old stadium.
Allen’s coaching staff have said consistently since May that the closure wouldn’t be a big deal to the players. That looked to be the case on Monday, as Allen ran through a brisk, well-organized two-and-a-half hour practice in 100-degree temperatures.
“Worrying about that, that’s going to be created more in the media than it is with this kids, they way they handle stuff,” Allen offensive coordinator Jeff Fleener said.
The team didn’t practice in the new stadium in the spring. In fact, the expansive weight room that runs under the vistors stands hasn’t been used, nor have the weights been moved to another facility, said Allen coach Tom Westerberg. Instead, the team is using older weights that remained in their practice facility. Westerberg said that he hasn’t been in the new stadium but a handful of times — four or five — since it was closed.