Baldwin High School hopes national contest can bring games home

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.

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Imagine a Friday night without lights. That's the reality on Baldwin High School's campus.

So, the football and track teams load onto a school bus and head down the road to Baker University's Liston Stadium.

“Every home game is a home game, but technically it’s not a home game," senior football player Creyton Frost said.

Chris Morrison/KSHB

As of Friday, Baldwin High School ranked third in T-Mobile's Friday Night 5G Lights Midwest division of its national competition. There are nine days left to vote.

"We need support more than ever," Baldwin High School activities director Dayton Valentine said.

Baldwin High School is the only Kansas school competing.

T-Mobile already awarded the school $25,000 for making it to the divisional round, according to Valentine.

If Baldwin High School wins the Midwest division, it has a chance of winning an additional $1 million.

Chris Morrison/KSHB

Valentine said the district pays Baker University roughly $50,000 a year in rent to host a handful of football games and a couple of track meets at its stadium.

"We’re fortunate enough to play on a college football field for an NAIA school, which is cool, but at the same time there’s drawbacks to that," Valentine said.

Valentine said he'd rather invest in Baldwin's athletic program than pay rent.

Chris Morrison/KSHB

“You look around at the landscape of the state of Kansas; you have people who are talking about closing schools," Valentine said. "We’re spending thousands of dollars to rent a facility."

Valentine was born and raised in Baldwin City.

"Super proud to be from this one-stoplight town in Douglas County," he said.

Valentine said he was 14 years old, playing for the Baldwin High School football team when his dad was diagnosed with stage-four terminal cancer.

"He passed away during football season of my sophomore year," he said. "This town and community rallied behind me to pick up me and my little sister, believed in me and supported me to help me achieve my dreams and my goals.”

Valentine said seeing the community rally support again solidifies his reasoning for returning to the school for his career.

“We are such a tight-knit town, and I think we could win," said Emme Nigh, a Baldwin High senior.

Nigh plays multiple sports for Baldwin, including flag football.

"There’s times where games get cut short because we don’t have lights," she said.

Valentine said in the heat of Kansas summers, an absence of lights poses issues with practice times, which other schools can push to early in the morning or after dark.

He said Baldwin High School's senior soccer night game was scheduled for 4 p.m. on Tuesday so it could be held before dark on the team's home field.

“We’ve had to move some games to away just to have lights on a field," Valentine said.

Valentine said the school wants to be "up to par with everybody else in our league."

“Ideally, you start with lights, and if you’re fortunate enough to win $1 million, you start looking at making a multi-purpose competition stadium," Valentine said.

T-Mobile's Friday Night 5G Lights Midwest divisional competition ends on Oct. 25.

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