The prep football season opener between Chino Hills and Ayala sold out in a day. Sale of tickets at the school was open to the general public so many students were left out and disgruntled.
Some are calling for the game to be moved to an alternative site with a bigger seating capacity. But is that the way to go?
Chino Hills Athletic Director Phil Garcia is against that idea. He goes a lot on recent experience. He had to move a boys basketball game against Mater Dei in March from his school to Colony in Ontario and he ended up losing money. How much?
“Maybe not $1,000 but hundreds,” he said.
Garcia says he also talked to Don Lugo Athletic Director Joe Marcos who talked about moving a Milk Can game against rival Chino several years ago to Chaffey College and that didn’t go over well for the same reason.
Garcia also doesn’t want to give up home field advantage.
“That’s theirs this year and it should be so I don’t want my team to give it up next year,” he said.
The teams also don’t have the luxury of a suitable facility in the neighborhood. Mt. SAC is about 13, depending which school are coming from. Chaffey is about 20.
Moving the game literally out of the city will also likely take away from the atmosphere and community feel. It’s about a backyard rivalry and wouldn’t it be different it was played in another city several miles away.
Garcia says the schools may look into how they distribute tickets so that many students wouldn’t be left out. But he is against the idea of selling on campus just to students because he dubbed it “a community event, not just a school event.”
What do you think?
