By R.J. Anderson

There is a new wave of game-altering behavior hitting athletics fields this fall—one that has nothing to do with performance-enhancing substances or bone-jarring collisions. In a handful of states across the country, thieves are responding to historically high copper prices by trespassing onto outdoor athletics facilities' fields and stealing the copper wiring that conducts electricity to field lights and other electrical entities. It's a trend athletic directors should familiarize themselves with. It's also a good time to keep a more watchful eye on fields and lighting systems.

At nearly $3 a pound, the elevated price of recycled copper has prompted thieves to prey on construction sites, parks, sub stations, and outdoor facilities that use a substantial amount of copper in lighting and other electrical systems. It's a crime of opportunity whose yield certainly does not offset the damage done to the lighting system. This has been especially true for the high school facilities that have recently been hit by copper thieves.

In some cases, the athletic administrators didn't know what had hit them until after they attempted to turn their stadium lights on just prior to a contest. In September, at Boulder Creek High School in Anthem, Ariz., it wasn't until the evening of a Friday night game that the school realized their field lights could not turn on.

At Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, Hawai'i, despite employing night security guards, the school was hit by copper thieves in early September before a preseason football game. In that case, copper was removed from three of the stadium's lights, but all eight were left disabled.

Campbell Athletic Director Sam Delos Reyes told the Honolulu Advertiser the repair bill for the damage will probably be in the thousands of dollars and that the cancellation was a blow to parents and athletes.

"They were really disappointed," he said. "Their spirits were taken away."

In mid-September a suspected thief was arrested after allegedly being caught in the act of removing copper wire from the Worth Shaw Sports Complex in Antioch, California. Preliminary estimates for repair and replacement of damaged complex equipment is approximately $5,000.

It seems beefing up nighttime security and monitoring school grounds for suspicious persons after hours is the only real way athletic directors can address the problem. It's also a good idea to keep work and construction sites under secure lock and key. But until copper prices go down and thieves have no motivation to steal and sell it, school facilities will remain at risk.

R.J. Anderson is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management. He can be reached at: rja@momentummedia.com.

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