XENIA — Xenia Community Schools recognized three donations for the Doug Adams Stadium project during its Board of Education meeting on Monday, including a $125,000 pledge from the Xenia Youth Athletic Association.

The Xenia Wee Bucs Football & Cheer program was represented by president Dan LaJeunesse and vice president Matt Johnson during the presentation. The organization’s contributions will go toward Phase II of the stadium project, which is set to begin in the Summer of 2024 and will construct new locker rooms, concession stands, restrooms, a field house and additional parking spaces near the stadium.

“It’s a unique and one of the strongest partnerships for the athletic department,” Xenia athletic director Nathan Kopp said. “When I approached them about possibly being one of the first big donors to kind of get phase two kicked off, we talked about how there’s about 1,000 kids, whether high school, middle school kids in the fall and spring in boys and girls soccer, football, lacrosse, track and the Wee Bucs cheer and high school cheer who utilize our facility. It just seemed like a no-brainer with how our partnership has been so strong.”

The funding from XYAA going toward the project will come through a continued working collaboration of the concession stands at XCS events, including in the current and upcoming renovated facilities at Doug Adams Stadium, according to LaJeunesse. There are no plans for additional fundraising to come from the registration costs or activities associated with the Wee Bucs programs, he said.

“We’re very excited,” LaJeunesse said. “From the board’s perspective, what we’re looking the most forward to is the upgraded concession stand because that’s where we interact more with the high school and where a lot of what does support our football program comes from.”

Kopp said the success of the Buccaneers’ football team in 2022 helped bring in more revenue for the Wee Bucs and different booster groups and he feels fortunate to have community support in assisting with the stadium’s renovations.

Within the Gem City Youth Conference, the Xenia Wee Bucs football program playing at Doug Adams Stadium is the only league team which has the usage of a turf field through its partnership with XCS. The Wee Bucs run teams for first through sixth grade students.

“Ultimately what we’re doing at the peewee level is benefiting the kids when they get to high school,” LaJeunesse said. “Giving back to the high school and what we’re able to do in developing kids at a young age, they’ll benefit from our board’s activities at the high school age.”

Also recognized at the meeting was the Doug Adams Trust, which donated $100,000 for Phase II of the project and another $100,000 for a new scoreboard.

Phase I of the project is currently underway and is hoped to be completed by the end of the first week of August.

Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on Twitter @Steven_Wright_.