TSSAA Football: Take a look inside the MBA’s H. Frank Burkholder Wellness Center
The MBA’s H. Frank Burkholder Wellness Center is considered the best high school football facility in Tennessee, but offers something for every sport. Check it out.
From turf fields to indoor facilities to hydrotherapy pools, Tennessee high schools are constantly improving their infrastructure in the hopes that it will translate into success in TSSAA football.
Here are our rankings of the top five private high school football facilities in Tennessee through 2024.
1. Montgomery Bell Academy
The MBA’s H. Frank Burkholder Wellness Center is a 200,000-square-foot complex that cost about $50 million to build, The Tennessean reported in 2018. It was built from the estate of the late MBA alumnus H. Frank Burkholder Jr., at a cost that MBA said at the time would exceed $90 million. The wellness center features a massive climate-controlled indoor soccer facility, a state-of-the-art gym with multiple video boards, and everything from a golf simulator to squash courts, yoga rooms, and a cafe.
More: Tennessee High School Football Transfer Tracker for the 2024 TSSAA Season
2. Lipscomb Academy
The McCadams Athletic Center is a $5 million, 25,000-square-foot indoor training facility that draws NFL and college football players in the offseason. When it opened in 2016, it was one of only three climate-controlled indoor facilities in Middle Tennessee. It also includes a girls’ locker room, team meeting room and conference room with state-of-the-art audio and video technology, as well as a hospitality area and coaches’ office upstairs.
More: How Chauncey Gooden of Lipscomb Academy became a 4-star OL and future player for Deion Sanders
More: “He’s Mr. Everything”: How Lipscomb Academy’s 4-star DB CJ Jimcoily went his own way
3. Briarcrest
The Petree Athletic Center at Briarcrest opened in April as the centerpiece of the school’s $12.8 million athletic capital campaign. It includes a lighted and covered 41,800-square-foot practice facility with artificial turf, a 1500-square-foot strength training center with adaptive digital technology, a modern student lounge and food station, hydrotherapy tubs, a 93-seat multimedia room and locker rooms.
More: Take a look inside the new Petree Athletic Center in Briarcrest
4. Ensworth
Ensworth doesn’t have an indoor facility, but makes up for it with a top-notch weight room and arguably the best natural grass field in the greater Nashville area, perhaps even the entire state. Daily Stadium, nestled within Ensworth’s lush Bellevue campus, features a large video wall that shows a live feed produced by the students during games. The school also has a spacious weight room
More: Tennessee High School Football 1-50 Best Seniors Rankings for 2024 TSSAA Season
5. Lakeway Christian Academy
The rural school in eastern Tennessee opened in fall 2020 with some of the best facilities in the area. The 30,000-square-foot gymnasium features an indoor training facility. The 2,000-seat football stadium’s bleachers include 500 VIP chairbacks and bench seating with podiums in the school’s colors. Lakeway’s football, baseball and softball fields all feature artificial turf.
Reach sportswriter Tyler Palmateer at [email protected] and on the X-Platform (formerly Twitter) at @tpalmateer83.
