Shock.

 

That’s the one word that aptly described what I felt in 1989 when I first visited what is now Wayne Jamison Field. As an athlete growing up in the Kanawha Valley, I was accustomed to practicing and playing football and competing in track and field events at some relatively modern facilities, especially Track and Field, where almost every competition we attended was held on a Friday or Saturday at Charleston’s Laidley Field, home of the West Virginia State Track & Field Championships.

 

By comparison, that first day at Bridgeport High School’s Athletic Field, I was greeted by an overused and worn-thin football field surrounded by a weed-infested, one-and-a-half lane dirt/cinder track with almost no discernible field event areas. The Bridgeport High School athletic complex was not what I had expected, but that is where I began my coaching career. 

 

Following our program’s first year of growth in numbers and competitiveness, the community of Bridgeport first demonstrated to me that almost nothing is impossible here. Led by the Harbert, Marteney, and Springer families, our first renovation to the complex was undertaken.

 

Atha Trucking donated a dump truck to haul fly ash from the Shinnston power plant for the track's surfacing. The Army National Guard unit out of Kingwood was kind enough to supply a work crew and their road construction equipment to create a six-lane wide path around the field, which they filled with the fly ash and compacted it. The transformation was impressive. It enabled us to start hosting home track meets and continue to advance the program and our success. 

 

By the end of the 1990s, discussions began about constructing a modern rubberized track at Wayne Jamison Field. There were plenty of naysayers. They would tell us that we could never raise the money needed. Harrison County Schools had just built Robert C. Byrd High School with a new football field and artificial surface track. It was intended to be the hub for track and field in Harrison County. The idea that we should give up didn’t sit well with me, those involved in the program, or the community in general, so a core group of community members with a vision embarked upon the “Track to the Future” campaign. 

 

Steve Sellas, Denny Paul, Bob Riley, Jim Dawson, and I believed in the concept and the citizens of Bridgeport. Our trust was not misplaced. The community rallied in support. Through a variety of fundraising efforts and some very generous local donors, we raised not only enough money to construct a modern all-weather track and the five field event areas in 2001, but we also built a sorely needed concession stand and storage area for the track and field program and football team.

 

Inspired by the success of “Track to the Future,” a few short years later, in 2005, the football and soccer programs joined forces for the “Field of Tomorrow” project to install artificial turf on Wayne Jamison Field. Two more lessons were learned in what the citizens of Bridgeport can accomplish when we apply our minds and resources to a task. 

 

The new facility has been a game changer for the school and the city’s sports programs. Additional and more varied events can be held. The opportunity to generate more revenue has allowed the schools to provide additional funding for their athletic programs. Because of the extent to which it is used, the original track surface has been replaced and upgraded twice, and the football field once, by our local schools and the Harrison County Board of Education. Along with these projects, other upgrades to the facility have come; the weight room, press box, finish line building, bullpen, field event areas, baseball field house, etc. 

 

Together they have provided a modern, safe, and beautiful athletic complex for our local schools and community. Walkers and runners from throughout the city and beyond, as well as sports teams from youth up through varsity teams, have and do use the facility. Football, soccer, track and field, cross country, ultimate frisbee, Johnson Elementary recess, physical education classes, teams' off-season conditioning, 5K races, BHS Indian Fest, Special Olympics; the list goes on and on.

 

Two premier events held annually are back in the coming weeks. The Harry Green Statewide Invitational will be held on April 22nd. The Harry Green Statewide Middle School Invitational will be held on May 13th. 

 

“Track to the Future” and “Field of Tomorrow” are the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are numerous community and civic leader-driven accomplishments throughout Bridgeport. The Bridgeport Library, the new airport terminal and aerospace park at the NCWV Airport, and the Bridge are just three more examples of many that represent Bridgeport’s determination and vision. In every case, the citizens of Bridgeport and our community leaders looked at a situation, developed a plan, and then executed that plan with the united support and backing of the community. 

 

So, “Why Bridgeport?” The answer is that we want the best for our families and our city. We have high expectations and an eagerness to achieve our goals. We don’t sit back and wait for something to happen or be given to us. We unite as a community and put in the work and effort to make things happen. We earn it.

 

That’s “Why Bridgeport?” 

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the worn out Jamison Field and old cinder track in an aerial shot, while the second photo shows, from left, the late Watler Barth, the late Ron Vernon, Phil Nicewarner, Jeff Toquinto, Ryan Nicewarner, and Chris Cleghorn, checking out progress of the initial installation of the "Field of Tomorrow." In the third photo, today's pristine track is shown, while the fourth photo shows the turf replacement project a few years ago. The bottom photo, from 2016, shows the track surface being replaced.