Fishers is teaming up with Hamilton Southeastern Schools on a big-ticket field facelift, signing off on an interlocal agreement that puts about $3.6 million toward upgrades at the athletic facilities serving Fishers High School and Hamilton Southeastern High School. The plan, cleared by unanimous votes from both the Fishers City Council and the HSE board, is slated to move quickly into design, bidding and construction, with work expected to kick off in late spring and wrap by late summer 2026.
The agreement blends city capital with district resources and creates a joint approach to managing the fields and youth programming, including coordination with Mudsock youth athletics. As part of the deal, longtime Hamilton Southeastern athletics director Jim Self will shift into a newly created city-and-district athletic director role to oversee both the upgrades and the day-to-day programming across the shared facilities. Coverage from The Reporter notes that the improvements will target both the playing surfaces and the supporting infrastructure at the two campuses and that construction is expected to begin in late spring 2026 and finish by late summer that year.
Longtime athletic director to coordinate schools and youth sports
Self, a familiar name to anyone who has tried to book a gym or field in the district, will oversee athletics for both high schools and all junior highs, according to Hamilton Southeastern Schools. The district lists him as the central point of contact for HSE athletics and credits him with years of coordinating schedules and events across multiple campuses.
Officials say putting one person in charge of both school facilities and community access is meant to untangle the usual scheduling headaches and clarify how school teams and youth leagues share space. Under the new arrangement, Self is expected to work directly with Mudsock youth athletics on who gets which field and when. The City of Fishers highlights Mudsock events as a staple of the local sports calendar, and leaders say the new structure is designed to keep those traditions intact while the fields get a serious upgrade.
In comments reported by The Reporter, Hamilton Southeastern superintendent Dr. Matt Kegley framed the initiative as a way to better align school athletics, youth programs and community resources, arguing that a coordinated system will serve both student-athletes and weekend warriors more efficiently.
Local track record and next steps
This is not the first time Fishers and the district have shared turf. The HSE archive shows previous field-use contracts that laid the groundwork for this deeper collaboration, including a 2024 field-use agreement detailed in HSE BoardDocs. That document spells out the operational terms and liability rules for shared use between HSE and city-affiliated youth groups.
On the maintenance side, Fishers’ Department of Public Works already handles upkeep on school grounds and athletic fields for the district, a division of labor outlined on the city’s parks maintenance page from the Fishers Department of Public Works. Officials say the next phase will focus on engineering, bid solicitation and a construction schedule that dodges the busiest stretches of the summer sports calendar.
Residents can expect public notices as contractors are selected and timelines are nailed down. Earlier coverage of athletic field and driveway work at HSE suggests the city and district have a habit of threading the needle on timing to limit disruption, according to YouAreCurrent.
