Courtesy of Janrye Cooper, WALB-10
Albany state fans are getting excited for the season. We’re officially under a week until their season opener at Valdosta State. Fans will have to wait until Week 2 to see the Golden Rams in the Good Life City. The wait will be well worth it when they see what’s new at the coliseum.
Albany state was one of for Historical Black College and Universities to get a new playing surface. They converted the natural grass field to blue artificial turf at the coliseum it comes from the 6.5 million in grant from Arthur Blank’s family foundation. The HBCU Invitational Field Refurbishment Program was designed to improve field quality, safety, and accessibility for students and local community groups.
Golden Rams head coach Quinn Gray knows how impactful this was not just for his guy but, the community saying “I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for us especially just as a university. We’re very very thankful of the blank foundation because this surface is going to allow us to really hone in and around the community and what people are seeing, they’re just excited about it, you know what I mean, our guys are excited about it, they haven’t been on it yet. It’s a tremendous opportunity to play on one of the best surfaces around and hopefully do some good winning on that thing.”
Gray and his team are still waiting for the final touches to be done to get their first taste of the new turf. They’re hoping to get their first practice on it next week. Fans will get their first experience with on Septemeber 7th at Albany State’s home opener against Shaw.
