By Joanna Chadwick

The Kapaun Mount Carmel football team will play five games at Stryker Sports Complex for the 2019 season.

“It is an amazing facility,” Kapaun athletic director John Cherne said. “… It’s a great opportunity to showcase the facility in front of City League schools. We have St. James come down and Andover comes over. It’s an opportunity for the city to put its best foot forward.”

Kapaun, which does not have a football stadium on campus, had played its games at Wichita State’s Cessna Stadium. Kapaun’s home soccer games have been played at Stryker, as well.

The move to Stryker is considered “exploratory” for 2019.

“Cessna is a very, very large venue,” Cherne said of the stadium, which holds 24,000 fans. “(Stryker) brings the crowd closer, closer to the action…. At Cessna on the field, you can hear, but it’s not deafening. The crowd doesn’t affect the game near as much.”

Stryker, which has recently undergone a renovation, seats 3,000, Cherne said.

The complex has 11 all-sports turf fields with lights, along with an indoor facility and the stadium.

Kapaun paid $2,500 for each game at Cessna Stadium.

“A little more cost is incurred (at Stryker),” Cherne said.