Hancock College Announces Plans For On-Campus Football Stadium
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Through the decades, the Allan Hancock College football team has had a long and distinguished history. It includes an undefeated 1960 state championship, several conference titles and countless players who have moved on to the university and professional levels. Among those, the legendary John Madden, who started his coaching career in Santa Maria with the Bulldogs as an assistant coach, and later head coach.
Most recently, former Hancock running back Cameron Artis-Payne was selected in the 5 th round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers after concluding his collegiate career at Auburn University.
While the Bulldogs have achieved much success on the field, what the program has never had is a field of their own. Over the years, the team has had to play home games off-campus, most recently at Righetti High School, where its played for more than 20 years.
“It’s tough to play all ten games on the road, which is essentially what the program has been doing for years,” said Hancock Athletic Director Kim Ensing.
However, the Bulldogs will finally get to enjoy a true home field advantage this coming season. On Wednesday, school officials announced plans to create a temporary stadium on the site of its new practice facility that just opened last year.
“What we’re doing is bringing in a temporary seating facility, which will seat about 1200 people,” said Ensign, who was joined at the afternoon press conference by Allan Hancock College President Dr. Kevin Walthers, Head Coach Kris Dutra and longtime booster Jim Glines.
The facility will place the bleachers on the west side of the field, which is the side closest to College Drive. A press box will be on the opposite side, adjacent to the Joe White Memorial Gymnasium. A temporary scoreboard, which is being donated by Arroyo Grande High School, will be placed on the north end, the side next to the school’s new Industrial Arts complex.
“For the students to have the ability to come and support the team in a way that’s right there where they go to class, it’s just perfect for them,” said Walthers.
Funding for the temporary facility will essentially come out of the budget that would have been used for the costs associated with playing off-campus. College officials said the total was about $20,000.
“It’s really for a win for us to have the kids here and it not cost any more money and it gives us a first step towards building a permanent stadium,” said Walthers.
Dutra, who is entering his 15 th season as head coach, said the new facility is a dream come true. He adds having a real home field will help with recruiting.
“In our recruiting, a lot of times, especially with our local junior colleges, they use that, you’re playing your home games at a high school field, they use that against us all the time,” said Dutra.
Dutra said he has already seen an improvement in recruiting by simply having the new practice facility, which includes a fully sodded grass playing surface, a rarity in a sport that is moving towards artificial grass.
While the stadium does not yet have an official name, there are plans to install a video scoreboard in the future, which will be paid through funds generated by the annual Joe White Memorial Dinner and Auction.
Eventually, permanent bleachers and lighting are envisioned for the stadium in the future, but for now, the temporary field will work just fine for a program that has long wanted and needed its own home.
“Now we’ll be able to host home football games, we can have our home crowd, our own home field advantage and create a prideful place for our student athletes with our football program,” said Ensing.
The school is hoping the facility can also be utilized in the future by the soccer teams and also host community events and athletic competitions.
Officials hope by having an on-campus facility, it will generate excitement with the program, not only for students and staff, but also the surrounding area.
“I just have a vision of it,” said Dutra. “There’s so much grass, I can see a day game because we’re going to play 2 o’clock games, kids out here running out, BBQ smell and the whole thing, a real Santa Maria style deal in my opinion.”
“We want the community on campus,” said Walthers. “This is another way for them to come here and see what their tax dollars are paying for and we’re trying to be good stewards of that, so hopefully we’ll get a lot of our local fans to come over here.”
The first game in the new stadium will be the 2015 season opener when the Bulldogs host Santa Ana. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m.
