photo by: Submitted

DSC_0033:Baldwin High School received $25,000 as it advanced as a division finalist in T- Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights competition, and will compete through public voting to advance as a division champion until Oct. 25. If the Bulldogs win the national competition following the division championship voting, they will receive $1 million for a facility upgrade.

The high school sports season is still young but Baldwin High already is in the middle of a high-stakes competition: The school is competing for $1 million of free money.

The school’s athletic director, Dayton Valentine, entered the school into T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights competition this year as a new way to improve the school’s facilities. So far, the school has been voted one of 40 division finalists out of 2,500 schools and is the only competitor left from Kansas in the Midwest division.

Baldwin High already has won $25,000 as a result of finishing as a Top 40 school. Now, the school district — about 25 minutes south of Lawrence — has a chance to be one of four schools to win a $250,000 prize or could take home the grand-prize of $1 million.

Valentine told the Journal-World that the district would find many uses for any of the prize money.

“As an athletic director, when you come in, you’re kind of looking around and saying what are some things we’re doing well, and where are some areas we need to improve?” Valentine said. “Currently, we have zero lights at Baldwin High School, and this has been a huge problem for us.”

If the school advances in the competition as division champions, Valentine said the school would look at adding lights to its soccer field and using it for multiple sports, allowing teams to practice before school or in the evening to avoid high temperatures. Additionally, the school could host evening games, which would reduce the need for students to leave classes early for athletic competitions.

“I think most people probably take for granted the fact that they have lights on a football field or soccer field,” Valentine said. “We have a contract with Baker University to play four football games, but they have all sorts of activities going on there. We don’t get to use it whenever we want.”

photo by: Submitted

IMG_0011:The Baldwin High School Bulldogs huddle during a game against Santa Fe Trail
High School Oct. 9. The Bulldogs defeated Santa Fe Trail 48-6 as the school advanced in a
national T-mobile facility funding competition.

So, how do you vote? By phone, unsurprisingly, given that the competition’s sponsor is T-Mobile. Those interested in voting can do so daily with a phone number until Oct. 25 by going to a special T-Mobile website at t-mobile.com/brand/friday-night-5g-lights.

As of Oct. 13, Baldwin sits in second place in the Midwest division behind McClain High School of Greenfield, Ohio.

Valentine said the school could potentially use the $25,000 it has already won for football uniforms or larger ticket items like offensive line training sleds. Final decisions on the spending, though, haven’t yet been made, Valentine said.

That’s in part because the school is waiting to see if it can win more. If the school wins its competition division, it will earn $250,000, plus a weight room upgrade and a $5,000 scholarship for one student. That $250,000 prize most likely would be what would fund the soccer field lighting project.

If the school wins the $1 million prize, Valentine said the district could consider adding turf athletic fields to transition from natural grass fields, which require more upkeep costs.

Valentine graduated Baldwin in 2013 and played as a linebacker for Kansas State University before coaching and teaching at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park. He returned to his hometown after the athletic director position opened, and said he first heard about the competition last year but couldn’t enter in time.

Principal Brian Brittingham praised Valentine for his efforts making sure students today have better resources than when he attended Baldwin. Brittingham said the community rallied behind the competition at Baldwin’s home football game Oct. 9.

“We had probably the biggest crowd we’ve had since I’ve been here in our nine years,” Brittingham said. “People came out in droves to support the cause.”

Brittingham added the upgrades would help students not directly involved in sports, such as weights classes, which are popular among students.

“The opportunities are really endless,” Brittingham said. “I’m passionate about this; our kids deserve it.”