Gridiron Goal Warner University Moving Ahead With Football Plan

Published: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 11:58 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 11:58 p.m.

LAKE WALES | Some things stick out during a stroll through Warner University's quaint campus in Lake Wales, namely the sprawling amount of unused land the school sits on.

Shortly, it will be filled with the sounds of shoulder pads' popping, whistles' blowing and cleats' pounding on dirt and grass.

Small-school football is coming to Warner, and at a rapid pace.

Conditioning workouts will be held at the school this fall, with intercollegiate play scheduled to begin in fall 2013.

Talks of building an on-campus football stadium are in the works.

The school's athletic director, Kevin Jones, made the announcement at the Turner Athletic complex on Tuesday afternoon. Jones said Jeff Schaum, the former athletic director and head football coach at Victory Christian Academy in Lakeland, will be the man in charge.

Schaum already has offered a scholarship to the school's first football recruit, Steven Stanley, The Ledger's small-school offensive player of the year in 2009. Stanley, who was enrolled at Division III Mount Union (Ohio) and Southwestern University (Texas) for football but didn't play at either school because of injuries and kidney problems, has four years of athletic eligibility. He was Schaum's quarterback at Victory.

"It's hard to pass up playing an offense I know," Stanley said. "I'm definitely interested."

The move has been in the works for nearly four months and has been accepted by the Warner community, university President Greg Hall said. Hall said the board of trustees voted 25-0 on May 4 to approve adding the sport.

"The campus is ready, the community is ready and the board is ready," Hall said.

"It's the next type of sport that fits into our program. Football is pretty popular," he said with a smile. "There are a lot of kids in this area, really quality players who need a place to play."

The school is expected to compete as an independent in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the same division as neighboring Webber International University and Ave Maria University in Naples.

Southeastern University in Lakeland is considering making a push into the small-school football realm, too.

"We're getting closer to making a decision," Duane Aagaard, Southeastern athletic director, said Tuesday. "We've been discussing it for four or five months. We're eyeballing 2014 if it is going to happen."

Fall 2013 could see a matchup between the two W's on opposite sides of Crooked Lake. Webber, which began its football program in 2004, is on the east. Warner is on the west. The universities are about five miles apart.

For Stanley, it would be an interesting rivalry ? three of his former high school teammates play at Webber.

Warner, a private, Christian college south of Lake Wales, has an enrollment of about 1,100.

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