Despite huge investments, Collin County feels high school football stadium growing pains
Throughout his nearly 40 years as a football coach, Todd Dodge has traversed the state of Texas.
Before the legend unretired to become Lovejoy High School’s new head coach, he led Southlake Carroll to four state championships and Austin Westlake to three.
Even after tenures at such storied programs, Dodge said nothing compares to Collin County.
“This place must really like the game of high school football,” said Dodge, who coaches at the school in Lucas, about 30 miles northeast of Dallas. “There’s a whole lot of people in the state of Texas who love high school football, but I don’t know that there’s a county in America that’s invested more in facilities than Collin County, Texas.”
With its multimillion-dollar stadiums and state-of-the-art practice facilities, fast-growing Collin County has arguably invested more in high school football than anywhere else in the state or country, making it an attractive destination for coaches and families. But lofty proposals for stadiums and other athletic facilities have failed in recent bond elections, a sign that the level of investment could be slowing.
“You’re always going to have around 50/50 people who think you need something, think you don’t,” Anna coach Seth Parr said.
In May, Anna Independent School District voters rejected a new $100 million stadium — for the second time.
Anna, which expects to have 9,889 new homes by 2027, is on track to outgrow the high school football stadium that was built to accommodate a much smaller town — if it hasn’t already. Parr said he’s not a fan of giant stadiums, especially if it means lots of empty seats on game days, but there’s a misconception that stadiums will be used only during football season.
“When you think of it as just a football stadium, you’re only using it six to seven times a year, so I can see what they’re thinking,” Parr said. “But when you add the career and technical education building, … it’s not just six days.”
More new schools in Prosper
Anna still has only one high school, but it seems as if Prosper ISD, much like neighboring Frisco, has been building schools almost constantly to accommodate massive growth.
The Prosper school district, which serves more than 29,000 students across all of its campuses and has three high schools, will open a fourth high school, Prosper Richland, in fall 2025. Prosper ISD’s 2022 annual report forecasts a total student enrollment of 36,620 for the 2027-28 school year, meaning the rapid growth will continue.
Next year, Prosper ISD’s four high schools will share Children’s Health Stadium, the district’s $53 million, 12,000-seat football venue that opened in 2019.
So, last November, the time seemed right to put to voters a proposal for another football stadium, at a cost of $94 million. The proposition failed, 54% to 46%.
Rachel Trotter, Prosper ISD’s chief communication officer, said the district has yet to seek additional feedback from community members on building a second stadium.
“We don’t have a timeline for bringing a stadium back to voters,” Trotter said. “However, we are opening our fourth high school in five years in fall 2025. So, the stadium schedule will be more challenging to accommodate four high schools beginning next year.”
Working with what you’ve got
In 2022, voters in Plano ISD shot down a proposition that would have improved safety and maintenance at stadiums. From the 1970s onward, as Plano experienced rapid population growth, community members showed a strong commitment to investing in football facilities.
The district opened John Clark Stadium in 1977 when Plano Senior was the only high school. The 14,224-seat venue cost $2.75 million, which would be about $14 million today when adjusted for inflation. Kimbrough Stadium, mostly used by Plano East, opened in 2003 when Plano ISD had three high schools, the same number Prosper ISD is serving with one stadium.
Some multischool districts make it work with only one stadium. McKinney ISD Stadium serves the district’s three high schools. Pennington Field serves Euless Trinity and Hurst L.D. Bell, the two high schools in Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD.
Frisco ISD, with its 12 high schools, has access to the Ford Center at The Star, Toyota Stadium and Kuykendall Stadium. Denton ISD’s four high schools use the C.H. Collins Athletic Complex and Bill Carrico Athletic Complex.
Parr said he doesn’t know when, but he’s sure Anna, whose lone high school football team just moved up to Class 5A in a University Interscholastic League realignment, will get a new stadium to accommodate the larger crowd sizes that go along with playing schools such as Melissa and Lovejoy.
“I think we need a bigger one because we’re sold out of our season tickets. Ours is more about the parking,” Parr said. “When we play Gunter, even though it’s a smaller school, we’re in close proximity. It’s going to fill up. And when you add Melissa and Lovejoy, that’s going to be the problem with our stadium.”
Twitter/X: @t_myah
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