Seward moves football games to Concordia

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BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

The Seward football team will be playing its home games at Concordia University this fall, according to athletic director Steve Borer.

“We ran into some issues with our bleachers. They are showing their age and it’s a pretty costly endeavor to replace them,” he said. “Right now, we’ve signed a one-year contract with Concordia to see how things go.”

Borer said Seward officials spoke with officials from Crete and Hastings, which also play their home games at Doane and Hastings Colleges, respectively.

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Seward's Alex Lowther runs for a touchdown against Hastings last fall. (LJS file)

Seward's Alex Lowther runs for a touchdown against Hastings last fall. (LJS file)

“It seems to have worked out really well for them. The college gets some exposure and the kids get to play on a classy facility,” said Borer. “We’ll get the admissions and our activities groups will run the concessions stands. Concordia has been great to work with on this. They know there is some curb-side appeal and it’s good publicity for them. Maybe they’ll get a kid to come to school there because they’ve been on the field.”

The Concordia facility has a synthetic surface. Borer said the Seward soccer teams played at Concordia the last couple of years.

“The locker rooms won’t be available before games this year, but they will be at halftime and after,” he said. “New locker rooms are being constructed and we have to work around Concordia’s Friday practice.

“We’ll dress at the high school and bus over. It’s a bit of a culture change, but we figured we’d give it a try. It’s such a nice facility.“

Borer said replacement costs for the bleachers range from $400,000 to $500,000 for a comparable amount of seating.

“We removed some of the older bleachers this summer because there was safety issue,” he said. “The safety of our fans is a high priority. After this season, we will evaluate things and decide which way we want to go, whether we stay at Concordia or buy new bleachers and move back to our field.”

Reach Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com.