Athletes at Point Loma High School know what it is to sacrifice. They know what it’s like to play a home game on the visiting school’s field and to trek miles just to get to practice. The lack of sufficient athletic fields to accommodate sports such as girls field hockey and softball has forced those PLHS teams to seek off-campus locations to practice and play for years.
“Students now have to run a seven-minute mile just to get to practice,” Hoff said, whose daughter, a junior softball and field hockey player at PLHS, has to walk, ride a bike or hitch a ride to after-school practices at Robb Field. Hoff considers this a safety issue and has plans to convert an unused dirt lot on school grounds into a new softball field.
According to Hoff, the addition of this softball field would benefit many groups, including the field hockey, football, baseball and soccer teams when schedules overlap. The field could also be used for physical education and marching band practice.
Hoff first got the idea to build the field last year, but began actively working on making it a reality about eight months ago.
PLHS Principal Bobbie Samilson explained that she and Hoff received district approval of the project drawings, as well as a $60,000 capital improvement grant, last spring.
“I think it’s just a great opportunity for students to be able to be right here on campus,” Samilson said. “Obviously it’s safer for them to not have to travel. So I think it will be a great use to our facility and we’re really lucky to [have] the parent support that really makes all these kind of things possible.”
Hoff explained that with practice off campus, there is nowhere for the girls softball team to store their equipment bags, forcing the team members to haul them around all day. The proposed field is conveniently located on campus near the girls locker rooms and includes a storage shed for such equipment.
According to Hoff, the $60,000 grant from the district will cover the costs of a batting cage, storage area, scoreboard, dugouts, infield brick dust and bleachers. However, more than $130,000 is still needed for the most expensive component of the project: TurfTech artificial grass for the outfield.
According to Hoff, PLHS said it could provide water for a grass field, but would not provide maintenance. Hoff said he settled on using expensive artificial turf, which requires little maintenance and no watering, because it would prove less problematic and longer lasting.
“USD (University of San Diego) uses the same kind and they love it,” Hoff said. “It’s bullet proof.”
While the project is pricey “” $11 per square foot for the TurfTech alone “” Hoff insists that it will save the school thousands spent on reserving space at Robb Field, which charges $10 per hour per field. With two teams practicing for two hours a day on two fields, the cost adds up to approximately $1,800 per sports season, Hoff said.
The new field would also be Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant and easily assessable from the current parking lot nearby.
According to Hoff, the district plans to begin construction of the backstop and fence Monday, Nov. 20. Hoff has recruited the help of varsity softball coach Tom Kamfonik for the dugout and storage shed installation, and has asked an electrician to assist with the scoreboard. After those steps are complete, work will begin on the brick dust infield. Installation of TurfTech for the outfield is the final step and cannot happen without community donations, though the rest will begin promptly with the district money.
“We’re starting with or without funds,” Hoff said.
Both Hoff and Kamfonik hope that the field will be complete by February of 2007, in time for the softball season.
“It’s all they talk about,” Kamfonik said of the girls softball team. “They ask me every day, ‘Coach, do we have the money yet? Are we ready to go?’ Not yet girls, we’re still working on it. But yeah, they’re fired up and very excited about the opportunity they have to play on their own home school field. They’ll be the first [PLHS] team to do that.”
For more information on the project, contact Scott Hoff at (619) 200-9861. Donations can be mailed to PLHSFAA “” Softball, and can be sent to 3495 Wisteria Drive San Diego, CA 92106.