280 Living
February 2016 | Volume 9 | Issue 6
neighborly news & entertainment
$70M Hoover Sportsplex construction to start in June By JON ANDERSON
THE FIGHT OF A
LIFETIME Steve Burrough watches an OMHS wrestling practice. Photo by Frank Couch.
Oak Mountain wrestling coach confronts challenging battles both on, off the mat By STEVE IRVINE
Pre-Sort Standard U.S. Postage PAID Memphis, TN Permit #830
Steve Burrough quietly carried on a conversation with a visitor while intently watching his Oak Mountain High wrestling team work its way through a recent practice. He playfully chided one wrestler for appearing to wear his shorts backward and kidded with
a few wrestlers sitting out because of illness or injury. Instructions were either given quietly or with a quick point of a finger. His wrestlers knew what he wanted — whether it came with verbal instructions or not. A few minutes later, he walked into an adjacent room to tell his story. It’s a story of frustration. A story of persistence. A story of overcoming
INSIDE
Sponsors .............. A4 280 News ............. A6
obstacles while not always knowing the entire cause of those obstacles. A story that is inspiring and sad at the same time. In many ways, also a story of how wrestling — and the kids he’s coaching — serves as one of the vehicles that keeps him going. Burrough’s story begins with a persistent cough that started more than eight years ago and eventually became much more. Doctors can’t tell Burrough everything that he’s fighting right now, but
Construction on the $70 million sports complex approved by the Hoover City Council in December is expected to begin in June, Hoover Executive Director Allen Pate said. The 141,000-square-foot indoor event center, to be built next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, should be completed by May 2017, and the rest of the 120-acre Hoover Sportsplex likely will be finished by February 2018, Pate said. The indoor facility will be able to accommodate a wide variety of sports, including a full-size football or soccer field, nine regulation-size basketball courts, and 12 regulation-size volleyball courts or six indoor tennis courts. It also could be the site of trade shows up to 300 booths and could seat 2,400 for banquets and 5,000 for events with general seating, such as a graduation ceremony or concert, Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said. The indoor facility is slated to include a recreational walking track suspended 14 feet in the air, an athletic training and rehab center, a food court and a covered walkway connecting it to the Hoover Met. It will not be tall enough to accommodate a football game with punting but could handle a 7-on-7 game, said Jeffrey Brewer, the regional president for Goodwyn Mills & Cawood, which created the architectural design. The outdoor portion of the complex is supposed to include six NCAA regulation-size soccer/lacrosse/football fields, eight baseball/softball fields, 15 tennis
See BURROUGH | page A12
School House ..... A13 Business ............. A22
Chamber.............A29 Sports .....................B1
See SPORTSPLEX | page A30
Community ........ B22 Opinion ............... B25
Faith .................... B26 Calendar ............. B28 facebook.com/280Living
Up in the Air
Chasing the Puck
A Caldwell Trace business owner is introducing the community to aerial workouts.
Hockey is a growing sport for children and adults along U.S. 280.
See page B14
See page B1