The Marietta High School Athletic Department and the Boys and Girls Soccer programs have launched a fundraising campaign to purchase new lights at Jerry Brock Field. They have placed the fundraising goal at 40,000 dollars. They have raised just short of 5,000 dollars thus far. Assistant Girls Coach Ben Schenkel filled us in on the current status of the lights in place. 

The Illuminating Engineering Society recommends that a high school soccer stadium have a system that produces between 30 to 50 foot candles of light to maximize playability, the fan experience, and player safety. According to a diagram on the fundraising website, only one section of the field meets these standards. Some portions of the field dip as low as 13 foot candles of light. 

The Tiger soccer teams have a lot of success at Jerry Brock Field. Since games began being played there in the 80's for the boys and 90's for the girls, the Tiger teams have won 402 games, lost 100, and have had 49 ties. This is a 77 percent winning percentage. The programs have lost only 3 postseason games combined on the field. Schenkel talked about the home-field advantage.

It is one of, if not the, neatest atmosphere in southeast Ohio. Got the fans right on the field, down by the river. We love our pool parking lot fans. They back up trucks, put down their tailgates, and they're out in that parking lot. It's just, it's an amazing atmosphere. Our girls and then also on the boys side, they just perform at Jerry Brock."

You can donate to the project in a variety of ways. They have a fund established at the Marietta Community Foundation. You can also donate online through a QR Code posted to the project website. Donations can be made by debit/credit card, check, or stock.