School field perimeter fencing

The broken plastic under the bleachers (Photo: Sophie McGarva, The Puma Prensa)

By Sophie McGarva, staff writer

Are any of you Maria Carrillo soccer fans or players? If you are, then you know the annoyance of having to wait minutes for a player to crawl into the small, dirty patch under the bleachers and grab a ball that has rolled out of bounds. Soccer balls are constantly getting lost under the bleachers, creating a possibly dangerous situation where students must climb and army crawl under the structure even when garbage has been dropped and other unseemly activities might have occurred. So, what is keeping a simple fencing job—that is long requested by the soccer community—from being completed at Carrillo?

Women's soccer player laying on the ground to grab a ball under the bleachers (Photo: Sophie McGarva, The Puma Prensa)

The uncovered opening under the bleachers is a “nuisance to the play of the game” and it “slows the game down,” said Athletic Director Jerry Deakins, who is currently working to get this long standing project completed. And the Pumas on the women’s and men’s soccer teams definitely agree with Deakins’ assessment of the situation. Both Men’s and Women’s soccer has to collect the balls themselves during games, but Women’s soccer occasionally has help from youth soccer players. “It wastes our game time and I have hit my head under the bleachers before,” said women’s varsity soccer player Madison Denault. And Junior Carson Hubenette explains that “it sucks that [they] have to go under the bleachers to chase a rolling ball while the clock is ticking.” It is clear that both the men’s and women’s teams are ready for a change.

Women's soccer player looking under the bleachers for a soccer ball (Photo: Sophie McGarva, The Puma Prensa)

The high cost of the fencing is the main roadblock to it being put up. Deakins mentioned that “donations are always appreciated” for this project to get done. He is “afraid it is going to be thousands of dollars” to see it to completion, so public contributions would be very helpful. In the past, donations have helped Carrillo buy temporary fencing, but with the power of the soccer balls and the weather around the track, the temporary fencing often doesn’t last a full soccer season. Deakins is in conversation with Coggins Fencing right now to get an estimate on permanent and strong cyclone fencing, so hopefully this athletic department project can finally be realized.