High school football in Mobile is one step closer to returning to Ladd
By Stephen Moody
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MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — It looks like high school football is returning to Ladd-Peebles Stadium this year. This comes nearly one year after five people were shot at a game.
The Mobile County Public School System will vote on a contract next week. The contract comes with a few changes from ones in previous years. The biggest change includes security, which the school system said will be their responsibility going forward.
The school board will pay Ladd $2000 per game this season. That’s less than the $4500 that Ladd received last season.
The contract states that Murphy, Williamson, B.C. Rain, Vigor, and Leflore will play games there. Tyese Roper lives across the street from the stadium. She hopes that the changes will help keep everyone safe.
“As long as they keep the metal detectors up through the whole fourth quarter and security stays there until everyone has left the stadium, then I think the violence will end,” Roper said.
Mobile County Public Schools confirmed that they will take over security for every game and will have more police officers on patrol.
Those officers and metal detectors will remain at Ladd for the entire game and will not leave until the stadium is cleared. That should hopefully ease the fears of parents who don’t want to get a phone call again saying that shots were fired.
“To hear that shots were fired at Ladd stadium and knowing that your child is over there with their football team, it’s shocking. To hear your child tell you that he had to hide under the bleachers, that’s very scary,” Roper said.
It’s unknown when games will start again at the stadium.
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