The (Kansas City) Chiefs Are Coming To Us
By Blake Toppmeyer /
Maryville Daily Forum
St. Joseph, Mo. — Missouri Western took a significant step Wednesday toward being able to challenge the Bearcats for football supremacy in the MIAA — and the Griffons did so without ever strapping on a helmet or snapping a football.
Missouri Western unveiled its new 118,000 square foot Griffon Indoor Sports Complex during a ceremony for school employees and invited guests.
The facility includes an 80,000 square foot indoor football field equipped with (AstroTurf® GameDay Grass™ XPe) synthetic turf, a weight room, coaches’ offices and several lecture rooms. The Kansas City Chiefs will use the complex for three weeks during summers for training camp. Otherwise, it’s Missouri Western’s to use.
Western’s football head coach Jerry Partridge said the facility will help the Griffons in their attempt to challenge Northwest for future MIAA titles. He said the Bearcats have had a recruiting advantage for years because of their exposure on national television from competing in numerous Div. II championship games and from playing an annual game against Pittsburg State at Arrowhead Stadium.
Western’s new facility, Partridge said, should help level that recruiting playing field.
“I’ll be honest with you, that Arrowhead game doesn’t help us, every year when Northwest and Pitt play,” Partridge said. “But now, it’s unbelievable, the Chiefs are coming to us. We’re not going to have to go to Kansas City.”
Partridge and Western’s Director of Athletics Dave Williams both acknowledged that recruiting is still very much about building relationships with athletes.
“It’s still a people game,” Williams said.
But as Patridge said, “18-year-old kids like shiny things, and this is pretty shiny.”