The newly renovated and newly named athletic field on campus is like a dream come true to any athlete who has the privilege to play and compete on it.
Sartoris field, which is named after longtime football coach and current Director of Athletics, Jim Sartoris, had its grand opening on Sept. 3 in conjunction with the football team’s first ever game played at home.
The Vaqueros, who have had a football team since 1928 and have had to play all their home games at Glendale High’s Moyse field, had never had the opportunity to play on home turf. They now have that opportunity and what an opportunity they are getting.
” This is probably one of the highlights of my career in the 30 years that I’ve worked at GCC,” said head football coach John Cicuto. ” The field is a great facility and it’s an absolute thrill for me as well as for the students, players and faculty to finally get to play at home.”
The field, which will also be the home field of the Vaqueros men’s and women’s soccer and track teams, is located behind the auditorium and has a great view of the Verdugo mountains, has state-of-the-art lighting, new bleachers, artificial turf, (which replaced the old dirt track and grass field ), and most noticeably, a beautiful scoreboard.
The nearly $4 million renovation of the field comes from a $98 million bond initiative passed by Glendale voters in 2002 to fund construction projects on campus, including the athletic field.
The scoreboard, which was not included in the project, was donated by Andy Reid, a former Vaquero football player in 1976-1977 and now head coach to the Philadelphia Eagles. Reid and his family gave the college $75,000 to install the scoreboard.
“For myself and for my teammates, I thank for you for all you’ve done for us,” said Reid, to his former coach Sartoris, during a phone conversation which was broadcasted to the crowd at the pre-game festivities held on campus.
The Glendale College Foundation also started an “endowment type thing” said Sartoris, where people could donate money to help with equipment and maintenance needs of the field for years to come. As of now, the foundation has raised $200,000 for the field.
Sartoris, who feels “tremendously honored” to have the athletic field named after him, has longtime ties to Vaquero athletics. He was a student and football player at GCC in 1962 and after attending the University of Washington and majoring in history, returned to GCC in 1967 to be an assistant coach for the football team. He went on to become a full-time teacher in 1969, head coach of the football team in 1972, in which he posted a 111-63-1 record, and eventually became Director of Athletics in 1985, a position he still holds today.
Some of the duties Sartoris takes on as Director of Athletics are the scheduling of the games for all Vaquero sport teams, managing the budget, making sure each student athlete meets the rules and regulations of eligibility, and also complying to state rules for athletic participation.
Besides being excited that the athletic field is named after him, Sartoris is even more excited with the unity and enthusiasm the field will bring on campus. Along with his duties as Director of Athletics, Sartoris also plans to get together with ASGCC to plan some plan events, activities, and music during halftime sport events.
Although the Vaquero football team didn’t give fans a win during their first game ever played at home, the players got the chance to play on an amazing field that they can finally call their own.