When the Mission Bay High School (MBHS) football team opens its season at home next month, the defending Division IV champs will already have scored a win. On Aug. 3, the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education voted to bump up long-overdue improvements to the school’s stadium with voter-approved Proposition S funding to the beginning of 2014 — more than a year ahead of the originally scheduled start date. “That which seemed so far away is now going to happen,” said Jennifer Tandy, public relations director for Friends of Pacific Beach Secondary Schools. “It’s a reality now, and not just a dream, thanks to the school board and the community supporting it.” Tandy said the new stadium’s start date was moved up from May 2015 because MBHS parents and students advocated for equitable Prop S project dates. Board members themselves paid a visit to the stadium between April and June. “All board members, at one time or another, actually came to visit the field and realized this is a priority,” Tandy said. “It was after a lot of discussion and visits that this actually happened.” Concerns abounded. From no field lighting to limited seating, and from a dirt track too small to host meets to a grass field that doesn’t match that of other schools, there is a laundry list of issues with the current stadium at MBHS. School district trustee John de Beck said the need is there for a new athletic facility at the school, which he estimates would cost between $10 million and $15 million. “I regret that there has been a delay,” de Beck said. “The main thing is to make sure the field is safe for kids, so there aren’t any potholes and there aren’t any places where kids can break their legs running around or actually playing a sport.” In addition to player and fan safety, Tandy said having a lit stadium would create a strong sense of community on Friday nights. The Buccaneers currently can’t host night games, and the football team had to play two “home” games in last year’s playoffs at San Diego High School during its title run. “We are very excited about the renovation coming to the Mission Bay High athletic facilities. With a new stadium, new field and lights, Mission Bay High will be able to host evening games, championship games and many other great community building events,” Tandy said. With a new stadium on the horizon, MBHS will also sport a makeshift press box again — in the form of a scissor lift — at the start of this season. In 2007, the press box at MBHS was condemned by the district and has not been replaced, even though school supporters set aside as much as $40,000 for the potential project. “The big problem was that when the community first lost their press box, they got the money to support it and that wasn’t going to be enough,” de Beck said. With similar stadium needs at schools around the district — including nearby Clairemont and Point Loma high schools — de Beck sees a possible solution as a new, regional stadium that could be shared by multiple schools. While this would eliminate home field advantage and not quite be in line with promises made by Prop S, de Beck said his idea makes sense for the coastal communities. “That doesn’t make the local schools comfortable, but it’s a better school district policy to do that,” de Beck said. “I’m trying to find a regional solution, but it depends on a willing board and that is not the current attitude of our board. So everything is currently on hold.” In any form, MBHS athletes will have a new place to play within the next couple of years — a score for both Bucs athletes and parents. For more information, visit www.sandi.net/missionbay1 or e-mail [email protected].
