PREP PREVIEW: No makeover needed - Wetumpka ready for new season
The Wetumpka Indians, shown against Tallassee last year, had to play another season at Hohenburg Field due to delays at the new field. They open the 2021 season in the new Wetumpka Municipal Stadium on Friday against Prattville. (Photo by Kyle Thornton)
By GRAHAM DUNN
WETUMPKA – The city of Wetumpka has been in the spotlight for the last couple of years.
Tim Perry and the Indians have been a big part of that after a trip to the Super 7 in 2017 and a semifinal berth a year later.
The sadness of the tornado-ravaged town in 2019 placed it in the national spotlight.
Most recently, and thanks to a series on HGTV, Wetumpka has become a destination for travelers, who want to see the improvements up close.
“It didn’t use to be like that,” stated Wetumpka running back Stone Minnifield. “There are folks everywhere.”
“This summer, (it’s been) really crowded,” Indians coach Tim Perry added. “We can only attribute it to tourism. Used to be you would wait 1-2 minutes at a restaurant to be seated. Now there is a line waiting out the door at just about every place.”
This week, the focus will shift back to the football field where another modification will take place – a new stadium.
After waiting a year, the Indians will finally get the chance to play in the new stadium in an official capacity against Prattville on Friday. The Indians held their final preseason event at the new facility this past weekend.
“We played there in the spring but we didn’t really get to have the experience of a gameday,” Perry said. “When we play Prattville, we will get the new scoreboard fired up and the PA system. It should be exciting.”
All the new “toys” and attention might be a distraction to some but Perry has been determined to keep the Indians on task.
“I don’t really think that much about it,” Minnifield said. “We are focusing on the season, trying to keep our concentration on those things.”
“It’s been enjoyable to get the attention brought to Wetumpka,” Perry said. “That has been really special. But our focus has been spring practice and then summer workouts. With HGTV it’s been great but we’ve got a season to prepare for.”
Perry implemented another program this summer that seems to be working well.
“We’ve been incorporating a leadership program,” he explained. “”(The upperclassmen) have been some of the best leaders we’ve had. These guys embraced it.”
“LJ (Jackson) and Stone are examples of what we are trying to do. They will go to young players and encourage them. The most dreaded part of workouts are the last 10 minutes with the wind sprints. They go out and line up next to a younger player and push them in the right way. I tell them you don’t realize how much that has an impact to have a senior go over and do that.”
Jackson admitted he wished the program had been in place when he was a sophomore.
“It helps us be more together and younger guys don’t feel like an outsider,” he said. “They feel like they are more a part of the team and it helps us get to know one another. The locker room is a lot closer.”
As for the new digs, Perry says Friday home dates will have similar feel as before. Old Hohenburg Field – which was erected in 1909 - is not directly connected to the current high school grounds, meaning the team would bus to games. The same situation holds true with the new Wetumpka Municipal Stadium only now the team has not one but two dressing rooms – one offense and one defense.
“We will probably keep our routine similar to what we’ve done,” Perry said. “We will bus earlier because we have access to two air conditioned locker rooms. That was an issue both at school and at Hohenburg. We will be able to spread out more.
“Hohenburg means a great deal to all of us but the new stadium brings us up to standards that are set up around the state. It keeps us in steps with other programs.”