PARMA, Ohio — In Parma, school officials are assessing the damage and figuring out what to do after a major football field felt the brunt of last week's storms.
Byers Field is one of the premier high school venues in the area and hosts home football games for Normandy, Valley Forge and some St Ignatius games. But, they are making contingency plans with the start of high school football season just two weeks away.
For a high school freshman, there's something special about playing for the first time under those Friday night lights.
"I'm very excited. I've been waiting for this my whole life, and I'm looking forward to it," said Normandy High School freshman quarterback Omir Taylor
"We've been preparing for this all summer, we went to football camp," said LeAnn Taylor, Omir's mom.
Due to storm damage closing Byers football field, Omir's mom now has to wait for that special moment.
"I was a little bit devastated, but hopefully they get it fixed before our first game," said Omir.
At first glance, there seems to be nothing broken at Byers Field, but when you look a little closer, you notice the back wall of the bleachers leaning, fences bending, and damaged lights.
"In terms of sort of an epicenter of damage, Byers Field was it for our school district," said Parma City Schools Superintendent Charles Smialek.
Since the storm, Parma city schools closed the field for safety measures as they evaluated the area.
"We've already had one engineering firm come out. We've got a second one coming out this week as well," said Smialek.
Byers Field is where Normandy, St. Ignatius and Valley Forge High School play home football games, as well as other teams. The problem is Normandy's first game is Aug. 23. By then, the field may not be ready.
"We know for sure that we're going to be closed through August. We're hopeful to open the first week of September, which would be Week Three of the football season," said Smialek.
Smialek tells players and parents they'll still get their seasons, but they must figure out where those games will be played.
"We want Friday night lights for our kids and for our families and for our bands and our teams and all those rites of passage. But we're going to have to do some improvising," said Smialek.
As Omir heads to his first scrimmage, he says whether it's this month or next, he knows his first game on Byers Field will still be one for the books.
"Its probably going to feel surreal and another unforgettable moment," said Omir.
Smialek says the good news is the turf and scoreboard are OK, and the storm caused no damage to the schools. He adds insurance should cover the cost of repairs.
