INOLA, Okla. — Inola High School has made it to the final round of T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights Competition and now they need help from the public to win the final $2 million prize that will go towards new athletic facilities for the school.
To win the competition, Inola needs to receive the most likes on their Instagram post explaining what the athletic expansion means to them.
With Inola only having a population of about 2,000 people, they need help from the wider Oklahoma community and beyond.
“It’s a transformative experience,” said student council advisor Deleea Meeker. “We’re a small school and like many in Oklahoma, there’s not a lot of money to go round. Facilities go downhill, things don’t get replaced. It would be a life-changing moment for the students here.”
Meeker was given a flyer for the competition by a community member and she decided to apply because she wanted to get her students involved in something.
Things took off from there and Meeker says Inola is in desperate need of the money.
“Even just this weekend, our scoreboard went out and we just don’t have money to replace that. Our turf needs to be replaced. One of our quarterbacks actually tripped on a hole on the turf this season and tore up his knee, so he’s out for the season.
Head football coach Brett Thomas agreed this would be a gamechanger for Inola students.
“Actually, we’re up for new turf and it’s about $6,000 to replace it. This is year 10, I believe. The turf is in kinda rough shape. We try to condition it, but it’s pretty rough. It’s falling apart.”
Thomas said it’s been exciting to see his senior leaders step up and get involved.
Even though they won’t get to play on or experience the new facilities if they win, Connor Pratt and Rowdy Rock helped to organize the competition and are excited to leave their own legacy.
“I mean, it’s pretty special,” said Pratt. “I know if we do win, we obviously won’t get to play on it or anything like that, but one thing that the coaches have always told us is, as seniors, you have to build a culture. So it’s something we’ll start from, everybody below us will get to have it and hopefully I get my name somewhere. That will be pretty nice.”
Currently, Inola is in third place and is the only school from Oklahoma in the competition.
To help them win, all you have to do is like an Instagram post.
To vote, go to the Inola High School Instagram @ihsproud and like their pinned video.
The last day to submit your like and vote for Inola to win is Nov. 12.