[E's Army]

Football is expensive to start up. To build a field with lights, bleachers, press box and concession stands is a huge cost. New lights are in the nearly $400,000 range for bare minimum. Equipment especially helmets is outragious. Coaching stipends are generally in the $15,000 to $20,000 range per year including middle school teams. The schools with the biggest issues like Jenkins are isolated and have a large traveling expense to find competitive games. Barbourville has made some noise about starting a program but this has failed to come to fruition because of these issues. Berea has had issues for the last decade and have been on the verge of giving up football. Have they ever got their stadium back in order. Schools with proud football traditions like Pineville, Harlan and Middlesboro have trended down in numbers and results on the field in recent years. Those schools are feeling a financial crunch with the loss of jobs. How long before they go the way of Harrodsburg, Cumberland, Whitesburg, MC Napier, Lynch and Evarts?