The United States Military partnered with Woodbine High School in 2022 to build a brand-new indoor practice facility for the high school football team. Well, kind of.
The Tigers were the direct beneficiary of a unique training exercise.
If this was wartime and the Hawkeye State was under attack, the facility would be used as shelter. Instead, because neither of those things are true, it is being used for high school football.
Where is Woodbine High School?
Woodbine High School is located in the rural town of Woodbine, Iowa near the western border of the state. The town has a total population of less than 2,000 and the entire school district enrolls less than 600 students from Kindergarten to 12th grade. The high school enrolls approximately 300 students in Grades 5-12, with less than 200 students in Grades 9-12.
Woodbine competes in baseball basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, softball, track and field, volleyball and wrestling. However, the offerings vary from year to year depending on how many students try out.
Because of the lack of players, the Tigers compete in 8-man football. The rules are similar, but games are played on a smaller field (80 yards long, 40 yards wide), at least five players must be on the line of scrimmage and all eight players are eligible to run, catch and throw the ball. With fewer lineman and more open space, the pace of play is much faster and a lot more points are scored.
They are coming off of the best season in program history. Woodbine finished at 11-1 in 2025 with only one loss in the state championship game. It is led by star wide receiver Landon Blum. He is committed to Penn State as a four-star recruit.
Blum is a senior. The Tigers are hoping to go all of the way in 2026 after falling one quarter short last year.
Why did the United States Military build a high school football practice facility?
Woodbine High School partnered with the United States Military for a unique training exercise in 2022. The 185th Refueling Wing of the Iowa National Guard Airmen built a giant tension fabric structure as one of three innovative readiness projects approved nationally by the Department of Defense in a partnership with local communities.
The benefits are two-fold. Not only does the military get to train, the community gets something new.
Woodbine Community Schools superintendent Justin Wagner previously served as the 18th’s vice wing commander and helped to get the project approved on both sides. (He was recently promoted to brigadier general with Iowa Air National Guard!)
“The training value is saying OK, you’ve got a bare piece of land. How do you get this structure up, how do you get this structure erect, how does it stay erect, how does it stay robust and then how do you heat and cool it?”
Once the fabric structure was built, it housed military members from across the country who helped to build a new STEM building for the high school. They installed HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems just like they would on a war zone base.
Once the STEM building next door was finished, the fabric structure was turned into a high school football practice facility!
Here is a video of Blum inside the U.S. Military-built practice facility:
Spending the day with Penn State commit, and #1 prospect in Iowa, Landon Blum
— IAfootball (@IAfootball_) August 24, 2026
Blum catches 200-300 balls off JUGS machines every single day, he says
Be on the lookout for a full feature of Landon over on IAsportz YouTube later in the week 👀 #IAfootball X #iahsfb pic.twitter.com/tabu2BsYys
As far as I am aware, Woodbine is the only high school football program in the state of Iowa with an indoor practice field. The Tigers were the beneficiaries of a National Guard training exercise. That’s pretty cool. They hope to reach the pinnacle in 2026!