More than two months after the season began, Lake Minneola High School’s football team has finally been given the all clear to play games on its field.
For nine straight weeks, Lake Minneola’s football team traveled to games while its field was designated as a construction zone.
Lake County School board member Bill Mathias first noticed the field was in bad condition at graduation last spring. By mid-summer, the Lake County School Board was calling the high school to find out what happened to the $4.5 million athletic facility, which is only three years old.
A plan to patch the field was changed to a $70,000 plan to completely re-sod it, with the promise the field would be ready by Oct. 1. But that didn’t work out, and more of Lake Minneola’s games were moved to neighboring high schools.
“My son was excited to go to the games. I kind of felt like the school spirit was down because they were scattered or you had to go away,” Stephanie Stutzman said.
Mathias said he was told grading of the field took longer than expected.
For football fans, parents, students and the team, it’s been a difficult waiting game. Now, the team will only be able to play the season’s final two home game on the fixed field.
“It would have been nice if the school or the school board or whoever was in charge of dispersing the money to get that done over the summer. That’s one of the things a lot of the parents have been talking about,” Stutzman said.
Hiram Maldonado, a parent, looked at the bright side, adding: “It’s beautiful to have them play this Halloween game."
The team will play against Leesburg Friday and will have its second and final home game next week. That game will end up being both Homecoming and Senior Night.