In towns across the country, there’s only one place to be on a Friday night in autumn: the local high school football stadium. The week is over, the sun is down, and the energy is through the roof. But around here, not all local high schools get to play in the limelight—or any light, for that matter.
While Santa Cruz High, Aptos High and Soquel High all have stadium lights that allow them to play night games, Harbor High has come up a few yards and a lot of kilowatts short. It’s not easy to rush for eight-and-a-third yards per carry when you can’t see your own cleats, which has limited the school’s team to totally uncool day games.
“The bottom line is, kids want to play Friday night,” says Harbor High School Athletic Director Steve Kopald. “It’s a whole different vibe.” He says administrators have been pushing for lights since the school was built in 1974, but various impediments, such as permits and environmental considerations—and, of course, money—have always halted the project’s progress.
This year, Kopald has joined forces with Carol Godsave, a local resident whose granddaughter is a cheerleader at Harbor, with the intention of raising the $250,000 needed to install field lights in time for the first game of next season: September 6, 2013.
Godsave and Kopald have contracted with the state architect to complete all the permits required to revamp the field. “The only hurdle now is raising the money,” says Godsave. They are hoping for donations from the community to reach the amount.
The Sunrise Rotary Club spent twelve years putting on charity bike rides to raise $500,000 to redo and add lights to Santa Cruz High’s stadium, which were completed in 2010.
“We would not like to diminish Santa Cruz High in any way, but step up and say, ‘maybe it’s Harbor High’s time,’” says Godsave.
The benefits of Friday night football games are many. Kopald believes it will inspire more new recruits to come out for the sport, and Godsave emphasizes the expected increase in snack bar revenues, which will then go to support all the school’s teams.
It’s a simple fact of high school life, says Kopald: “When footballs better, everything’s better. And for us, football’s better if we’re playing on Friday nights. That’s how it works.”
Those interested in supporting Harbor’s cause may send checks made out to Harbor High with “field lights” in the note, sent to the attention of Athletic Director Steve Kopald.
