Riverfront Stadium, the home of the Wichita Wind Surge, will be hosting its first high school football game this fall, as the “Holy War” between Kapaun Mount Carmel and Bishop Carroll will take place on Friday, October 7 at the new ballpark. At this time, it is a two-year agreement, with Carroll the home team this season and Kapaun being the home team in 2023.
“I started talking with Jordan Kobritz (Wind Surge partner and CEO) about possibly having a game at Riverfront Stadium last fall,” Bishop Carroll Athletic Director Tyler Frazier said. “They contacted me about our thoughts of playing a game at Riverfront Stadium and it was something that we thought would be a great experience for our players, fans and the city of Wichita. At that time, we only knew it could happen after October 1 because of the restrictions they have from MLB.”
Riverfront Stadium hosted a junior college football game in the fall of 2021, so both Kapaun and Carroll knew the game was plausible.
“Obviously, locker rooms, who will sit where, concessions, admissions, etc. are always important details to coordinate but we do that on a weekly basis in every high school sport,” Kapaun Athletic Director Marty Straub said. “Tyler and Mr. Kobritz were good to work with regarding these details and we’ll replicate their work in the fall of 2023 when KMC is the home team. We’ll adjust and make any needed changes after we experience our first game this fall.”
The hope is that Riverfront Stadium can host games often after the Wind Surge’s season is over and the Carroll-Kapaun matchup can be viewed as an audition of sorts for future contests.
“I think this will great for local high school football,” Frazier said. “By hosting this large of an event at Riverfront Stadium, it will show that the staff at Riverfront and the city of Wichita can bring more events in just like this.”
Straub said nobody loses in this situation, because more people will now likely show up than just fans of either school.
“Further, by demonstrating the flexibility that Riverfront can provide, it seems that there may be other ‘classic rivalries’ that could be included at Riverfront in the future,” Straub said. “The more the stadium is used, the greater value it provides.”
