$72 Million Sports Complex in SEC Country
$72 million is a large investment for anything, let alone a sports complex. That is what the City of Saraland is investing in and it could pay massive dividends for the high school football 6A state power in the future.
The City of Saraland, Alabama is set to open a $72 million sports complex this fall. According to Jaylee Kennedy with www.wkrg.com , the project “will go across 100 acres of land.”
Kennedy goes on to mention that “this project has been under the works for over a year. However, as the project is growing, it is falling behind schedule. Originally, the Saraland City Council planned to have an official groundbreaking in June.”
While June is looking unlikely to happen, the multi-million dollar sports complex will be worth the wait and even has a name of “The Land.”
According to www.thelandatsarah.com, the complex will have over 78,000 feet of indoor space, 4 basketball courts, 8 volleyball courts and 12 pickleball courts.
It will also offer one indoor and one outdoor track, five fields for football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse along with eight baseball and softball diamonds.
Three concession stands will also be included on the grounds.
The complex will also offer community activities for Saraland residents.
Although the complex is not at all affiliated with the Saraland City School District, this is where the city, Saraland may be familiar to you.
Saraland is the high school football program that produced 2024 Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver signee, Ryan Williams. Williams re-classified forgoing his senior season at Saraland to sign early with the Tide and was the number one overall recruit before doing so. Even after reclassifying, Williams is still listed as the third best receiver recruit in the 2024 class, and eighth best prospect in the country according to www.247sports.com.
Current Defensive Lineman, Antonio Coleman is going into his senior year at Saraland and is currently a four star recruit according to www.247sports.com. Coleman currently has offers from four SEC schools including in-state rivals the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers.
The fact that Williams and Coleman exceled to an SEC level before this complex was even built bodes well for the high school football program to produce more SEC level talent in the future.
If athletes have better facilities, naturally their performance has a chance at being better. So a place to work out, practice and play to the level of “The Land” in the off-season one would think would be invaluable for player development for the Saraland High School football program.
Keep an eye on this program the next few years as Williams and Coleman may just be the start of the stars to come from it.