Published in the July 9-23, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
First home game scheduled for Sept. 13
By Staff Report
Morgan Hill Life file photo
Sobrato High School cheerleaders perform at last year’s El Toro Bowl.
Morgan Hill high school gridiron gladiators are going to see some major changes as the sports season starts with the new school year. Live Oak High School’s Acorns will have a renovated football field for their upcoming season, and that led to Sobrato High School Bulldogs for the first time in the campus’s history playing home games.
Near the end of last football season, Live Oak administrators petitioned the Morgan Hill Unified School District board for upgrades to the campus’s sports facility. The announcer’s booth was torn down last year because it was separating from the stands and angling dangerously backwards. The field itself was in desperate need of repair from hard use for several years by Live Oak and Sobrato football athletes playing games there, Live Oak’s Emerald Regime using the field for band practice, the Gilroy Barnstormers football team using the field, as well as the Live Oak soccer programs and track and field.
“The (Live Oak) field just never got a chance to rest,” said Kevin Miller, assistant principal at Sobrato. “It really needed renovation. When the board approved the renovation, they also looked at Sobrato and said the boys at Sobrato deserve a chance to play at home, too. They began to look into getting bleachers for day games. And then all of a sudden, boom, it just happened.”
Sobrato’s first home game is scheduled for Sept. 13, which is exciting news for the school’s students, Miller said.
“Our ASB (Associated Student Body) kids and band are excited,” he said. “They don’t have to carry a million things over (to Live Oak), they can decorate and celebrate at home on their field. The students and fans have always done their best to make Live Oak feel like home. And Live Oak has been great at welcoming us. It is our home away from home.”
Now undergoing conditioning for summer practice, Sobrato football players feel a sense of pride knowing that they can play on home-field turf and use their own locker rooms, Miller said.
“I had the opportunity to ask a few of the players about this while we were setting up for graduation, and they said, ‘I can’t believe it!, We are actually going to be playing here! On this grass! It is going to be amazing!’”
The Sobrato Athletics Booster Club board and volunteers have started planning for the home games and have a lot of work ahead during the summer months to get ready, said volunteer Kim Panos. Projects for the booster club include making sure a public address system is available so fans can hear play-by-play announcements, the installation of a flag pole for displaying the American flag, and a concession stand to sell snacks. The club also plans to have the football field marked with lines in Sobrato colors.
At a June meeting, the boosters discussed what they needed to host a game on the home field from bleachers and equipment to ticket sales, advertising banners, publicity and concessions
“One of our biggest challenges is that we can’t construct any permanent structures on or near the field,” Panos said. “Even the bleachers and portable restrooms are temporary, although they will stay installed throughout the football season.”
Items on the wish list include track protector carpets that will be rolled out on game days to protect the track as players enter the field in cleats; a PA system, plays and half-time programs; a commercial-grade frame tent to use for a snack shack (to be set up and taken down on game days); and large ice chests, propane tanks, barbecue grills and power strips and extension cords. The boosters also need a storage structure that can be installed on campus to securely store all this new equipment.
Volunteer opportunities also exist to help out with athletics at Sobrato. The club is looking for a concession committee of volunteers to set up, manage and work the concession stand. People who are interested can contact the club by emailing [email protected].
