GARY -- One hundred and eighteen days before the first scrimmage of the season, Roosevelt football coach Kennedy Hannah -- fresh off an alarming inspection by a representative of the Riddell sports equipment company -- went on Riddell's Web site and got a price quote for 24 new helmets and 29 reconditioned helmets, then promptly sent it up the chain of command in the Gary school system.
Three days before the scrimmage, Hannah still doesn't have those helmets.
"At this point, we're going to have to skip the O'Rama on Friday, and maybe forfeit our first game (at Michigan City) next week," Hannah said. "Just when I think I've got my program going and doing some things right and getting kids interested in what we're doing -- I get a setback like this. And it doesn't help my program at all."
Hannah said he's been in contact with those above him -- from Roosevelt athletic director Michael Protho, to school principal Charlotte Wright, to city athletic director Earl Smith -- to expedite the process.
Hannah said his most recent conversation came on July 26 with an administrator he declined to name.
"The answer they gave was, 'How are we going to pay for it?'" Hannah recalled. "I said, 'I don't know. I don't do the budget. I'm just the football coach. I'm just trying to get my kids the equipment they need to play football, like any other football coach.'"
Smith said Tuesday evening that he would be going to Roosevelt today and couldn't comment without looking into the situation. School board president Nellie Moore said she was unaware of the situation.
A representative from Riddell came out to inspect the helmets -- standard procedure in the offseason -- in April, Hannah said. Twenty-five of the helmets were ruled outdated (they're allowed a lifespan of 10 years, and had been there since Hannah's first season in 1999), and 25 others needed reconditioning because of various problems such as missing chin-strap snaps and loose facemasks.
None of them was deemed safe for play. So on April 16 -- Hannah produced the dated forms from Riddell's Web site -- Hannah priced all the equipment he'd need for the upcoming season.
n Twenty-four new helmets and 12 pairs of shoulder pads at a cost of $4,947.45.
n Twenty-nine reconditioned helmets at $851.
n Fifty white road jerseys at $1,838.43.
n Fifty black home jerseys at $1,590.03.
"Jerseys, especially white ones, usually last about three seasons, max, with guys grabbing on them and tearing them up," Hannah said. "We're on our sixth year with these."
He passed the price quotes "up the chain," he said, and waited for a reply that never came.
Hannah said the constant turnover in the administration -- Protho is the school's third athletic director in three years, and Wright is the third principal in three years -- probably has exacerbated the situation.
"If you haven't been through this before, you don't know the procedure," he said. "You can't just take the budget and split all the money evenly. You could probably dress an entire basketball team for what it costs to dress one football player. But these aren't every-year expenses. Next year, I might only need some chin straps and thigh pads. It changes year to year."
The players, who gathered for practice Tuesday evening -- non-contact, of course -- expressed frustration, too.
"Seems like they're taking their sweet time doing nothing," said senior Khiry Gary. "They'd probably pay a lot more attention if it was basketball. They got new practice uniforms -- practice uniforms! -- last year right when they asked for them."
Now, with the annual football O'Rama -- at Roosevelt, no less -- on Friday, Hannah said he has "maybe seven or eight" helmets that can be salvaged and made safe for play.
Even if the team could secure a few more helmets for 11 -- the bare minimum to field a team -- Hannah wouldn't put his players out there. Sharing helmets is not an option.
"We did that nonsense when I played in the '60s," he said. "With the skin diseases out there today, and who knows what else, I'm not taking a sweaty helmet off one kid's head and putting it on another kid's head. That's a big no. I can't take that risk."
Hannah was initially reluctant to speak out about the situation, reluctant to ruffle too many feathers.
"But at some point, I felt I had to do something," he said. "You can't play football without a helmet. We're not asking for something extra here, just the basics we need to play football, and play football safely."
Contact Mark Lazerus at 648-3140 or mlazerus@post-trib.com
Cell Phone Alerts
Facebook App
Contact Us
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Advertise With Us
About Our Ads
Close
Community Login
You've successfully logged in to the Sun-Times Media Community, click the close button to return to browsing.
Font Size
Email
Bookmark
Black Text
