As the football team prepares for its season of “home” games hosted at Carlmont High School, Woodside High School, and Sequoia High School, rumors continue to circulate about the progress of the bleacher renovations on Coach Parks Field. The renovations, which initially were planned to begin the day after last year’s graduation, were delayed throughout the entirety of the summer, only eventually starting right before the school year began. The source of this delay has been a question for months, though recent rumors speculate the delay stemmed from the fact that materials were ordered months later than originally planned.
The original timeline planned to have the bleachers completed by late November, allowing for possible home games if the Bears made a deep CCS run. However, with all the delays, Principal Losekoot said in an all-staff email on Sept. 2 that the earliest possible date the bleachers could re-open would be January 28, almost two months after the original planned date.
“I heard that we forgot to order the bleachers and that construction won’t begin until January, so we might not get it for graduation,” senior Griffin Birk said.
These delays, combined with no public bleacher-related communication from Administration, have left room for speculation throughout campus about the reason for the original postponement and if students can expect further delays in the future.
Many speculated about the source of the initial summer pushback and its continued effects on M-A sports. However, some sports, including girls flag football, are still planned to be played at M-A. The status of sports such as soccer and lacrosse is still to be determined.
“We’ve heard that they actually never even ordered the stands themselves or like the materials to build them,” senior football captain Leif Weintz said. “It seems like it’s not only football that’s getting cut off but it’ll also cut into soccer season, probably lacrosse and many of the field sports.”
Students have also heard that the reason for the construction delay is that the bleachers are being manufactured at a site in Texas. “I’ve heard [construction is] going to pause for four months,” senior Shea Watson said. “I don’t really know why, but it could also be because they have to ship in the bleachers from Texas because they got ordered late.”
These rumors have caused anger and disappointment from some football players, who point to communication from last year that the bleachers might be finished by late fall, allowing the team to have senior night at home.
In an interview with the M-A Chronicle last February, Athletic Director Paul Snow said that he hoped to have football games at M-A this year. “[The bleachers are] supposed to be done late fall season, so we might even have some of next year’s late football games there, but that’s really if everything goes perfectly,” he said.
As the rumors rippled through the senior class, many worried that graduation may have to be moved to an alternate location.
“I also have heard a ton of rumors that we’re graduating at Woodside or at Sequoia,” Watson said. “That’s the thing I most care about.”
“We were initially promised to have at least our senior night at home with the stands all done,” Weintz said. “At this point we’re pretty certain we’re not going to get any home games or anything.”
The reaction to the construction pushback is a blend of both frustration and confusion.
“I felt a little disappointed about the fact that we didn’t start it at the start of the summer, so we didn’t get it for football,” Birk said. “And then now it’s just like, even more messed up, so it’s just kind of funny.”
“Why couldn’t we have figured this out earlier? They started construction on the first day of school. Like, you couldn’t have done that the whole summer?” Watson said.
