Archive for March, 2010

Brian Bordainick’s expression is hopeful but worried as he gestures toward the future site of George Washington Carver High’s new football stadium in one of New Orlean’s most damaged neighborhoods.  Bordainick is the Athletic Director at Carver as well as the Executive Director of the 9th Ward Field of Dreams Project.  As the youngest athletic director in the history of Louisiana, Bordainick has been inspired by his students to make their lives more enriching.

Challenging himself with the daunting task of improving the community that he teaches in through his love of sports, Bordainick put together the school’s first competitive football team since Hurricane Katrina.  Even though the first season saw many defeats, Bordainick saw the impact that it had on his students. He then realized that he needed to do more than field a team. He needed to rebuild the environment surrounding his students. So the plans to build a stadium in the 9^th Ward began.

The 9th Ward Field of Dreams, will not only become the home turf for Carver’s student-athletes but a community rallying point for the city of New Orleans. Currently, athletic particiation in the cities most challenging school hovers around 18%, whereas the national average is about 55%. Bordainick belives that this is due to New Orleans’s strikingly high murder rate. According to a report compiled by the FBI, New Orleans has the highest murder rate in the country. The project to build the stadium has been viewed by the community as an opportunity to change the dangerous dynamic of their city.

The benefits are clear.  Studies have shown that kids who participate in youth sports or after school programs are less likely to engage in more dangerous activities like vandalism, substance abuse, or gang affiliation.  Those same kids are also more likely to stay in school and have higher grade point averages. The effects of revitalizing the program have been been felt by Carver’s 431 students. Bordainick says that the school has found that a 0.5 increase in Grade Point Average, 25% decrease in suspensions and a 35% in school attendance has been achieved since the start of Bordainick’s mission. The stadium is key to replacing those negative activities with positive ones.  The faster it gets built, the faster the community can leverage the new stadium to reach the more than 27,000 students in the area. But projects and dreams this large aren’t cheap.

To date, local and national sponsors have contributed over $1.2 million of the $1.85 million that is needed.  Nike and the NFL are some of the largest sponsors but donations from small local businesses and individuals are pouring in.  They hope to raise the entire amount before the groundbreaking next Fall.

In order to save on maintenance costs after the stadium is completed, the architects and engineers have included some new, more sustainable features into the plans.  The lighting system will be low emission and low consumption.  Special bulbs will need less electricity to produce the same amount of light as traditional ones while reducing the amount of light pollution that could escape from the stadium at night.  Artificial turf will be sustainable and cost-reducing as well.  The turf, although initially more expensive, requires virtually no maintenance.  It will eliminate the need for re-sodding, mowing, irrigation, and painting leaving  water for more important uses and keeping harsh chemicals out of the air and aquifers.  Fill for the turf will be made of recycled sneakers instead of new rubber.

Bordainick’s initial plans to help kids through football have evolved into something much more complex; a sustainable stadium that will be the renewal for an entire community.  The 9th Ward Field of Dreams project will lead the way by encouraging kids to participate and setting a positive example.  Help him set that example by contributing at the project website, www.9thwardfieldofdreams.com.

Claire Urbi

The Daily Energy Report

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