A new school athletics facility is scheduled to open on September 2013, much to the excitement of University High faculty and students.
Although currently unfinished, the new 2,940 seat stadium will serve as the field for home football games played by University High and Woodbridge High. The approximate budget for the stadium is $8.9 million.
University High students have had to temporarily change their practice schedules to accommodate construction. The football teams split the use of one field, while the varsity soccer teams are sent to neighboring Las Lomas High each day. Softball, lower-level baseball teams and track also practice off-campus.
There have been many scheduling conflicts between the four Irvine high schools, which have all been sharing one field. The scheduling issues have necessitated Thursday night football games, which are an inconvenience to many students. Football players, cheerleaders, band members and fans will now have more time to study and sleep on Thursday nights.
“The addition of this second facility will allow more reasonable scheduling,” said Mr. Pehrson, an administrator at University High. “[It will also] offer students the opportunity to more faithfully support their teams on Friday nights, as originally intended.”
“Thursday night games were always really stressful because games would leave no time for other school-related things,” said Hannah Minn, a junior at University. “I’m excited for the new stadium because that will give me more time.”
In addition to a new field, the new facility will feature a nine-lane rubber track, as well as a Girls’ Softball Field. Present structures have also been modified; the pool has been resurfaced and given a new deck, and the locker rooms have also been redone.
Students and staff excitedly await the arrival of a new facility. As Mr. Conlin of the Athletics Department says, “I’ve been at Uni for 28 years and I’m thrilled that we will have our [own] stadium.”
