Amid the fog at Lompoc’s Huyck Stadium, both Cabrillo and Lompoc high school’s football programs played under the same fading lights that began to dwindle last season.
“We noticed that the middle of the field was a little bit darker and looked up and saw that the bank of lights up the middle of the field were not as many bulbs are on," Cabrillo Athletic Director Derrick Wong explained.
Costing $400 per home game, four portable lights are now used to supplement the lack of stadium light but in the darkness there is some light shed on the community.
T-Mobile recently awarded both schools $5,000. The schools are two of 300 nationwide to get “game-changing upgrades” through the company’s 5G Friday Night Lights sweepstakes.
“Just the fact that they recognize us with this award makes our community very excited,” Wong said.
On homecoming night, Cabrillo was awarded its big check from the telecommunications company and though more money is still needed, it’s the recognition that goes a long way; one that longtime Cabrillo coach Dan Duffy tells community reporter Dylan Foreman he recognizes as a win for the community.
“The national brand is going to be nothing but a plus to get the other corporate entities on board as well,” he said.
Cabrillo is in the midst of a $3 million stadium improvement project aimed at updating the outdated field and track. So far the school has raised $125,000 dollars but in the end, it’s a project that would allow the teams to not have to use Lompoc’s stadium anymore.
“Just to be able to have what we can call our own field because we are coming here and really, it's not our field,“ Wong said.
“It's going to be huge for the morale of the campus, for the kids to be able to walk out of class and walk up and watch their friends participate in the soccer game, participate in a home track meet," Duffy explained. "It's essential to the morale of the campus and it's going to be great for the Vandenberg Village, Mission Hills community.”
In the future, the goal for Cabrillo athletics is to add lights and bleachers after completing the field and track but for now, they are still in the process of working with Lompoc to use the field and working around the light situation for all their sports. For more information on the status of the Cabrillo Stadium Improvement Project, click here.
