FYN Sports Top 5 Football Stadiums in Our Viewing Area
Team FYN Sports July 5, 2021
Just here to spark a little bit of fun debate during the off-season! Our writers blind voted on their favorite stadiums in our viewing area, and these were the results. I’m sure everyone will have their own opinion, so let us hear your opinions and what we got wrong!
Each stadium write up is written by a member of the schools community.
1. Fannin County High School
Fannin County High School Football Stadium comes in at #1 on our FYN Sports Top Football Stadium in our Coverage Area.
Although the stadium has no nickname, it is often been referred to in the past as “The Battlefield”
Fannin County may have the best entrance in all of Georgia. The Rebels walk out of their locker-room directly to a gigantic blow up Fannin County Football Helmet. Coach Cheatham usually is the 1st one to break open the facemask on the helmet and the Fannin County Football team walks onto the field with arms locked. The cannon fires, the smoke rises, music blares, lights go out and then flash from pole to pole. It is a striking entrance and one that every High School Football fan needs to see.
Yes, we mentioned a Cannon. And yes, it does fire. Every time Fannin County enters the stadium and scores a Touchdown the Cannon is shot and is heard throughout the town of Blue Ridge. Yes, we mentioned Lights cutting off and flashing. Every time a Touchdown is scored Fannin County’s LED Light system will flash from pole to pole igniting the roar of the Fannin County 12th man.
Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is played and PA Announcer Tim Towe famous “ITS 3rd DOWN” sparks the Rebel Nation to make noise on 3rd Down.
I think if you witnessed a game here during Fannin County’s magical season last season you would agree with our choice.
The Stadium is a true 12th man Atmosphere. Powered by everything we have mentioned and the award winning Fannin County High School Marching band, the cheerleaders and “The Blue Crew” ( Student Section) Fannin County is our choice for Top Stadium in our coverage area.
2. Murphy High School
Photo taken by Mark Muir
David Gentry Field at Bob Hedrix memorial stadium is nothing short of picturesque. The location of the stadium is one of it’s best qualities, being right off the road and allowing passers by to honk their car horns and cheer on the Dogs, whether that be on Friday night or Tuesday afternoon at practice. Watching the team walk down the hill at 7:27 on Friday night just before kickoff is electric. The sun setting behind the visiting bleachers on a crisp fall evening is really something to behold. Dont even get me started on the sheer history of what’s been accomplished on that field. 10 state championship teams have played under those lights, and for the past 40 years, perhaps the greatest High School football coach of all time has coached on that sideline. Add to that JR Carrol shouting “1st and 10 Bulldogs” over the speakers, you’ve got a recipe for one of the greatest high school football atmospheres in the country.
Photo taken by MHS Athletics on Facebook
They don’t call it “BULLDOG COUNTRY” for nothin’.
Former Dogs Head Coach & Hall of Famer David Gentry said, “There’s no better high than the one you get on Friday nights in Murphy between the hours of 7:30 & 9:30. That feeling you get for those two hours, it’s unattainable anywhere else.”
3. Robbinsville High School
Robbinsville’s Big Oaks Stadium is a rethink-your-ranking kind of stadium. A truly historical field, it has hosted the home games of over 50 years of Black Knight football teams without ever being moved to a new location. The stadium is also directly adjacent to the original “old rock” schoolhouse of the 1900s.
The field is not the only piece of historical significance—the players themselves, often generational descendants of fellow state champions, give the Friday Night aesthetic of a Robbinsville Black Knights’ football game the aura of dominance. These boys know the magnitude of what they are playing for.
With 14 State Titles earned on its grass, the Big Oaks guarantees you a night of knock-down and drag-out, old-fashioned football, complete with rows of aged-oak trees, and a sunset view over its Smoky Mountain backdrop. Being the true embodiment of the AC/DC rock hit—Back In Black—the Big Oaks Stadium is THE must see stop of any stadium tour.
4. Union County High School
Photo from Chris Mathis
We look to Union County’s Mike Colwell Memorial Stadium a.k.a “The Mike.” There are many great high school football venues; not many, however, pack a 1-2 punch with a beautiful view and electric atmosphere like this one.
Photo from Chris Mathis
This venue offers a beautiful turf field and an even more astounding view of the crisp Blue Ridge Mountains. Mike Colwell Memorial Stadium is one that you’ll never forget, one that provides a bit of everything you could ever want on a Friday night underneath the lights!
5. Pickens County High School
Photo from North Cobb Electrical Services
NCHSAA releases offseason guidelines
Sports August 31, 2020
Earlier today, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released guidelines for offseason skill development. These guidelines are eerily similar to and closely follow the previous phase 2 guidelines, while giving a little insight of what coaches can and can not do and expect of their players during the offseason.
“Any coach who promotes the idea that taking part in off-season skill development is required is blatantly out of compliance with the intent and purpose of this rule,” the guidelines say.
The objective for these guidelines as told by the NCHSAA is “To provide guidance for member schools to consider in designing return-to-activity protocols in accordance with state, county and NCHSAA regulations. It allows for a coordinated reopening following the initial stay at home orders and may also be used if conditions dictate the need for increased restrictions in the future; thus, the NCHSAA has developed a multi-phased approach.”
Some key takeaways from the release are:
- On a given day, an athlete is limited to 90 minutes of skill development or weight training/conditioning during the academic school year calendar, inclusive of all weekends, holidays, workdays, etc. Skill development sessions are not. Sport specific sessions are not to exceed 90 minutes in duration (inclusive of warm-up, cool-down, meetings, video review, breaks, etc.).
- Eighth graders are not permitted to participate in skill development sessions on high school campuses.
- Contests or combined practices between member schools are prohibited during off-season skill development
- Any individual affiliated with an NCHSAA member high school must abide by the skill development, out-of-season workout rules. If this individual also coaches a “non-school” or “club team” outside the sports season but during the school year, and has any students from the high school on that outside team, he or she cannot work with any of them during a dead period and are restricted to the maximum number allowable per sport.
- Due to possibility of recurrent outbreaks in the coming months, administrators must be prepared for periodic school closures and the possibility of some teams having to isolate for two or more weeks while in-season. The NCHSAA will provide guidance regarding practice and/or competition during temporary school closures, the cancellation of contests during the regular season, and parameters for the cancellation or premature ending to post-season events/competitions.
Dead Periods:
1. 1st five student days of the academic school year
2. Last five student days of 1st semester
3. Last ten student days of 2nd semester
4. Additional sport season dead period will be announced by the Board of Directors
NCHSAA Sports Calendar Amended, Football Moved To February
Sports, Team FYN Sports August 31, 2020
The NCHSAA Board of Directors met last night via zoom and were able to come up with an amended calendar for the 2020-2021 season.
The decision to amend the 2020-2021 sports calendar was not one that was taken lightly, as the NCHSAA was guided by the NFHS and others in order to make a properly informed decision.
All sports schedules for the year have been changed in some way or another. In the graphic below, you can find the 1st practice dates, 1st competition dates, final contest dates, season contest limit, and weekly contest limit for all NCHSAA sports for the 2020-2021 school year. 
The first practice date for football has been pushed back all the way to February 8th, with the first game coming February 26th. Another big change to the football season is that all NCHSAA teams will only play 7 games this season, with the final contest date set for April 9th.
The first practice date for Basketball will be December 7th, and the first game will be January 4th. Basketball will only play 14 games this season.
You can view the attached graphic for the updated schedule for all of the changes made to the other NCHSAA sports in the upcoming year.
The NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said in her video release earlier today that if you have any question please do no hesitate to contact them, and that they would be happy to field any questions or concerns that the general public had about the upcoming seasons after they hold their media press conference at 3:30. You can contact the NCHSAA by visiting NCHSAA.org.
The NCHSAA is holding a virtual press conference at 3:30 today for members of the media to ask questions about the new amended calendar, so stay tuned to the Team FYN Sports page for the latest updates on this developing situation.