PREP SPORTS: Shiloh Christian announces indoor practice facility to benefit student-athletes

Jeff Conaway, Shiloh Christian head football coach and athletic director, was among a group of school officials who broke ground on a new $5.6 million workout/practice facility at the Springdale-based school last week.
(Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach)
Jeff Conaway, Shiloh Christian head football coach and athletic director, was among a group of school officials who broke ground on a new $5.6 million workout/practice facility at the Springdale-based school last week. (Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach)

SPRINGDALE -- Shiloh Christian School officials recently dug their gold shovels into a mound of dirt and signaled the start of a construction project to bring a new athletic facility to the private school.

A $5.6 million indoor workout/practice facility that will include a turfed field, a much larger weight room and offices among other amenities. It was a vision that athletic director and head football coach Jeff Conaway put before school officials almost a decade ago, Shiloh Christian superintendent Keith McDaniel said.

"This is something that was on his heart for a long time and it's something that we've been chasing after, but until this past year it was not something we had an opportunity to do," said McDaniel. "We had a great donor come along beside of us and the rest of our Shiloh family got on board, and we were able to raise enough money to get the project going."

The facility will occupy the former home side parking lot on the west side of Champions Stadium. Behind the five school officials digging into the dirt last week, the press box at the stadium proudly promotes the eight state championships won by the football team, the most recent in 2020.

Shiloh Christian will be elevated to Class 5A for the next four football seasons, but that was not a factor in the decision to start construction of the performance center, said Conaway.

"I don't feel like that was a factor," said Conaway, whose team has played in three straight state championship games. "I feel like it was just a timing thing and just the Lord blessing. I think it would have happened had we not moved up.

"I feel like we've just been tilling the ground for many, many years and for whatever reason it became fertile and we've had a lot of our family step up and donate, and we've had people give small amounts and large amounts, but we've chased it really, really diligently."

The facility will be completed in phases, said McDaniel. The lower level will have locker rooms for football players in grades 7 through 12, the weight room and offices. On the open field side, there will be a 50-yard turfed surface area with a 10-yard end zone.

The second phase of the project will be the second floor and will include meeting rooms, film rooms and a wrestling room. The first phase of the building is scheduled to be completed in late February or early March 2023, McDaniel said.

Conaway, who said the facility was a dream of his and longtime Shiloh Christian coach Josh Floyd had more than a decade ago, said other athletes besides football players at Shiloh Christian will benefit from the construction of the center.

"We've got a lot of athletes in girls and boys sports," said Conaway. "We have 18 different teams and we share one weight room right now. So, when I say it's going to change the way we do business, we're going to be able to create a new training facility that will host several more athletes.

"I think we're doing a really good job right now, but with a new weight room, a new indoor, a new facility, we're going to be able to double the efficiency. I think we're going to get better from an athletic perspective in our training 365 days a year."


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