Concord High has picked up a big prize from a program built around high school football and community pride. Through T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights $5K Fridays, the Crimson Tide took home exactly that amount and stand to win more.
Every week, T-Mobile awards $5,000 to different schools around the country to be allocated as they see fit, whether academics, athletics or the school community at large.
Concord won the sweepstakes in week 5 of this year’s program and joined eight other New Hampshire schools that have won this year. The other winning New Hampshire schools thus far have been Campbell, John Stark Regional, Windham, Inter-Lakes Middle High, Manchester Central, Manchester Memorial, Manchester West and Londonderry.
The program goes beyond just weekly prizes, though. Concord, and the other schools, could still win $25,000 if selected as one of the program’s 40 division finalists. If it’s voted as a division champion, Concord could win $250,000 and a Gronk Fitness gym from Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski’s fitness brand. Lastly, Concord could be eligible for the grand prize: a full football field transformation valued at $1 million.
If there ever was a time that Concord needed a football field transformation, it would be now. The bleachers at Memorial Field were demolished and the joint city-school committee on the park voted to advance a master plan recommendation last week.
In total, 1,000 schools will get paid out through the 5K Friday sweepstakes. Submissions are still open for high schools in U.S. towns with populations under 150,000.
According to T-Mobile, “authorized school officials, including teachers, coaches or administrators, can submit an entry on behalf of their school at FridayNight5GLights.com.” The submissions include a short story or essay about why the school deserves a transformation for its football field. Applications are open through Sept. 18.
Now in the third year of the program, two schools’ stadiums were completely changed by the grand prize. Inola High School in Inola, Okla., got the makeover in 2024 and Dierks High School in Dierks, Ark., received the upgrade last year.