NLC Schools To Play Games In RCA Dome

Fans of Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison or not, football players from Warsaw and Wawasee and the rest of the Northern Lakes Conference will walk in the footsteps of the Indianapolis Colts Saturday - literally.

The eight high schools that make up the NLC will play their Week 5 games Saturday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis in the Lake City Bank/Northern Lakes Conference Day at the Dome.

This is the third time the NLC has played regular season games in the RCA Dome.

"We want to give the kids a thrill," said Mary Hurley, Wawasee High School Athletic Director and NLC secretary. "Obviously, you get to play there if you're playing for the state championship, and quite a few kids from the NLC have done that, but we wanted to give everyone a chance to play there. Every three years the conference takes a trip to the Dome, and we try and spread around what week we go and who the home teams are."

Wawasee and Class 3A No. 3 NorthWood open up play at 11 a.m. followed by Elkhart Memorial and Class 4A No. 10 Plymouth at approximately 1:45 p.m., Goshen and Concord at approximately 4:30 p.m. and Warsaw versus Northridge at 7:15 p.m.

Hurley coordinated the research team that looked into the NLC playing at the RCA Dome in 1998.

She contacted coaches, principals and athletic directors from the Three Rivers Conference and eventually had Rochester A.D. Mark Miller give a presentation to the NLC.

"Mary Hurley is a big reason we get to do this," said Warsaw Athletic Director Dave Fulkerson. "We also have to be very thankful of Lake City Bank, who is the corporate sponsor."

According to Fulkerson and Hurley, both Warsaw and Wawasee have sold nearly 700 tickets.

Tickets are available in the athletic offices of the eight schools for $8 apiece. Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets from the athletic office of their school to support it. Tickets purchased the day of the games at the RCA Dome will cost $12.

With the help of Lake City Bank's corporate sponsorship, each of the eight NLC schools is asked to sell nearly 540 tickets, according to Hurley, to break even.

"The cost to rent a facility such as the RCA Dome is salty," said Hurley. "We have to thank Lake City Bank for being a sponsor. Tickets are available at the Dome, but we encourage fans to buy tickets from their school."