The grass, the dirt, the funneling of overcrowded people. No more! With all the fall sports set to begin for the ‘09-’10 season, there will be a new sense of pride and school spirit for the Cougars.
For the fall of 2009, the Soccer teams, Football team, and Softball team will call home a brand new, first class, state-of-the-art facility and replace the stadium that has been here since the school opened up in 1986. Because of a bond passed 11 years ago for construction of the Science, Math, and Library wing (named O-12 project) for about $59 mil., the school has had money left over for any reconstruction of the middle schools in the Center Unified District and any other renovations needed.
“They wanted to wait for some major projects,” Co-Athletic Director Bob Eason said. “The district has always had this new stadium in mind. They felt like now was the perfect time to do it.”
Even though district has spent money on other projects, the estimated total cost of building the new stadium was only $8.7mil. Even after the stadium project, the district remarkably still has about $10 mil. available for additional improvements.
Complaints from students about the school’s yellow spotted football field, dirt track, and overall student dissatisfaction from Robert Eason field have been lingering for years now. However, students will not have to wait any longer than two years when they’ll be able to enjoy one of the best new facilities in the area.
The stadium will include a brand new all-weather turf field that will highlight the speed of some of the fastest athletes. The track will change from dirt to a much more reliable Mondo track that is guaranteed for 25 years. The concessions and entrance will be on the southwest end of Robert Eason field. The visitors’ entrance and permanent concessions will be relocated to southeast end of the field. The scoreboard will be moved from the south end to the north end behind the track while the football field.
This new stadium is going to be a positive reason for many kids to attend Center, rather than being lured away by better facilities at other schools.
“I think this will definitely give an incentive for students to want to come here,” Co-Athletic Director John Gallagher said. “I think this’ll really help the fact that we have been losing kids and I think they are going to want to attend a school that looks nice. These kids are going to have something to be very proud of.”
This new stadium will also feature extended seating to about 2,264 total home seats, which will be the result of pushing the seats back, thus destroying the mound facing Watt Avenue. Because of this, the football field will now be wider and allow the soccer team to play night games.
As for sports being played, the impact on performance is hoped to be positive. As History Instructor Digol J’Beily returns to the sidelines as head coach of the Varsity Football team for next year, he believes the new stadium for the following season will bring exceptionally positive changes to the school.
“I think it’ll have an immediate impact,” J’Beily said. “The idea is to set up a program where the kids want to come here. It’s going to be a positive culture. Hopefully they’ll take a lot more pride, spirit, and ownership in this school.”