Guido: Big plans for facility upgrades at Leechburg

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, September 19, 2017 | 6:21 PM

Athletics facilities improvements could be on the way for Leechburg High School.

The school board last week voted to register RBC Capital Markets to acquire a $7.7 million bond issuance, $1.7 million of which would go toward improvements at Veterans Memorial Stadium and to create a complex at West Leechburg.

The school district first would have to get permission from Leechburg Borough, the stadium's owner, for improvements at the facility that opened in 1947.

One thing immediately needed is a sprinkler system for the locker rooms, which sit under the stadium grandstand.

Other improvements will be determined once the school district negotiates with borough officials.

The school district has big plans for the former site of the West Leechburg Elementary School.

The site has hosted baseball games for many years. Softball is played at Gilpin-Leechburg Park, and all the track and field meets are on the road since Leechburg doesn't have a track. The school district would like to add a softball field and a track, making it a sort of headquarters for spring sports.

Leechburg Area superintendent Tiffany Nix said the goal is for West Leechburg to host track, baseball and softball.

Community members could use the track for walking after school hours, much like many other school districts.

The 60-foot diamond also could be used for Little League.

“At the present time, all of these sports are located in different areas,” Nix said. “We could have a track meet going at the same time the boys and girls are playing baseball and softball. We could also have soccer games, a Relay for Life, etc. The options are endless.”

Former Leechburg coach dies

Speaking of Leechburg, the last man to coach the Blue Devils to a WPIAL football playoff berth, George Mamros, died last week.

He was 74.

In 1988, Mamros piloted Leechburg to a second-place finish in the Class A Eastern Conference.

The Blue Devils were 6-1 going into the final Friday night of the regular season but lost to Riverview, 3-0, on a field goal with 6 seconds left.

Leechburg then had to play the waiting game, hoping Apollo-Ridge would lose to Richland the following day. It's hard to believe Richland was playing Class A at the time, and less than 30 years later, Pine-Richland is a Class 6A school.

Richland's Matt Merhaut scored a touchdown with 3 minutes, 9 seconds remaining, vaulting Leechburg into the Class A playoffs, where it lost to eventual WPIAL champion Wilmington, 35-0.

After leaving the post in 1991, Mamros returned as coach in 1995.

A Leechburg graduate, he spent 35 years overall on the Leechburg football staff before retiring in 1999.

Mamros also served on West Leechburg Borough council.

Visitors will be received Wednesday at the Clawson Funeral Home in Leechburg from 2 to 8 p.m.

A mass of Christian burial will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Christ the King Church in Gilpin, and interment will follow at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Allegheny Township.

Catching up to coach

Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec, considered by many to be the WPIAL's top football player, continues to climb the all-time list for career passing.

His 176 yards through the air last week gave him a career total of 5,366. That's 229 yards behind his coach, Eric Kasperowicz, who starred for North Hills from 1990-93.

While Jurkovec's 5,366 would be the career high at most schools, he's only third all-time at Pine-Richland behind Ben DiNucci (7,619) and Jake Long (5,406). Long (5,830 overall) passed for 424 yards at Bradford as a freshman before moving to Pine-Richland.

Jurkovec and the 4-0 Rams, ranked No. 1 by Trib Total Media, visit No. 3 Bethel Park (3-0) on Friday.

George Guido is a Valley News Dispatch scholastic sports correspondent. His column appears Wednesdays.