GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Dozens of football helmets were stolen from the Ronald Vincent Fieldhouse over the weekend, according to J.H. Rose Athletic Director Clay Medlin.

Forty-four helmets were stolen in total, amounting to around $20,000 worth of lost equipment. The school had already ordered their 10 new helmets for the season and paid their helmet bill back in March.

So, the replacement cost for these stolen helmets is going to eat a large chunk of the football team’s budget that already had a large majority of its funds spent getting ready for this season.

Medlin told WNCT on Monday that Rose’s football team practiced last Wednesday, and postponed practice the rest of the week due to weather conditions from Debby.

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Some staff members came to the facility on Thursday and Friday to do laundry and check on the facilities during the storm. When head coach Will Bland entered the Fieldhouse on Saturday morning, he made the discovery of the missing helmets and alerted authorities.

The football team has a jamboree scheduled for Tuesday night, and their first game of the season next Friday.

The team is going to borrow helmets from their junior varsity players and from some of the other teams while they work to replace the loss, or until law enforcement can find the helmets.

Medlin said that they are actively working to get replacements in time for their first game.

“We did talk to a helmet representative this weekend and we told him our situation. We were wondering about the time frame that we would get them in because we do have a game next Friday,” Medlin said. “It’s very time-sensitive, the representative is aware of that. We’ve already started with the process of getting new helmets here and fingers crossed they’ll be here in order to get our guys suited up next Friday.”

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