KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It’s been a long time since the Austin-East High School athletic facilities have been renovated for the football, soccer and track and field teams.
Some of the lockers date back to 1999. Other parts of the building have been renovated as recently as 2005, but for the most part, almost everything is outdated by a couple of decades.
Last October, Dan Anderson, Austin-East's ambassador for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, made a speech at an event hosted by the nonprofit. He spoke about the high school's much-needed upgrades.
"They gave me the opportunity to share what was going on at Austin-East," Anderson said. "I just shared from my heart what was going on. I felt like the school was getting a bad rap because of things going on in the neighborhood. I shared some needs. I asked the folks in the audience if they would help me. If you can't give money, give us your time. If you can't give us time, give us your prayers."
Anderson said they needed help and people listened. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, also known as FCA, and a retired contractor Tony Mamone immediately said they would get on board to help.
On Tuesday, Austin-East football head coach Stanton Stevens, who once led the Roadrunners to a state championship in 2001, gave a tour of the current facility.
He showed the locker room and how some were over two decades old. He expressed the need for a shed to store football equipment and golf carts. Right now, items like tackle dummies for football sit in a hallway blocking a door. There is a four-wheeler at one of the front doors. A golf cart sits in front of some lockers.
"What are they supposed to do, climb all over it to get to their stuff?" Stevens said while showing everyone around.
Many of the bathrooms need an upgrade and more stalls. The lighting is dim. Offices for coaches are unfurnished. They hope to have new flooring done, new paint on the wall, newer-looking lockers installed, and new jerseys and helmets. The list goes on for the needs of the school.
Right now they feel like a disservice is being done to their student athletes.
"They will accept it, but why should they have to and why should we make them?" Stevens said to everyone who visited the facility.
Mamone estimates the renovation upgrade would cost around $1 million. All parties involved in this fix-up agree it's long overdue and the kids deserve a place where they can thrive.
“We want them to be excited to play sports and excited for them to be an Austin-East Roadrunner," said Debbie Greene, the Development Coordinator of Fellowship Christian Athletes.
Those at Austin-East feel like this could be a great source of pride.
“I was here from 2000 to 2011 and at that time we had some new stuff, new locker room and stuff at that time — and it was great, and it brought a lot of energy to the team," said Tobran Tillman, the Austin-East football offensive coordinator. "I can see this new renovation bringing that type of energy back.”
Stevens hopes this can inspire the students and community.
"We are talking about our kids, we are talking about our future," Stevens said. "I think and every parent would agree they want the best for their kid and they want to put their kid in an environment that is conducive to winning."
They hope to have new jerseys, new paint on the walls and flooring by the fall. By next fall, they want to add new lockers, upgrades to bathrooms and more.
If you would like to donate to the funds needed for the renovations, you can do so at fcaknoxville.org and leave a note specifying donations are for Austin-East.