FROM THE SPORTS DESK:A good day for Estancia

A sunny day in Costa Mesa served as the proper backdrop for the groundbreaking ceremony of a new stadium at Estancia High Thursday.

It was what many people had been waiting for. It was a great day for an old man who wouldn’t take no for an answer. It almost felt like too much of a feel-good story.

Eleven years ago, Jim Scott started planning for this state-of-the-art facility, that includes a new football field and an all-weather track, expected to be complete in the fall of 2008.

There were plenty of skeptics back then, and even some laughter from the naysayers.

“I had my doubts it would ever come to this point,” said Tim Parsel, the Estancia boys’ athletic director. “I was with Mr. Scott in ’96 when he first started talking about it. I thought it was great, but how would we ever come up with the money? Now here it is. It’s just great.”

So just how great is it? Just ask Estancia Principal Phil D’Agostino. He’s been the principal for less than a year, yet he’s well aware of the impact.

“This is not just a historical event, it’s an exceptional and very, very rare event,” D’Agostino said. “You got the community, parents, administrators, city council, board of education, all these stakeholders, two cities, Newport-Mesa, all coming together to agree on something. I don’t know how often that happens. My guess is not a lot. So for it to happen, for all those different groups to come together for the sake of kids and for the well being of athletics is truly exceptional.”

Measure F proved to be the perfect support needed in this project raised from the Costa Mesa United, a non-profit organization that worked toward building the new facility. Yet, Scott served as the catalyst, an icon of Estancia and now of this stadium.

He was in a wheelchair Thursday, the result of a stroke he had last year. He showed character, still taking part in the ceremony, a scoop of dirt taken from gold-painted shovels.

What a sunny day it was.

Here are some other news and notes taken away from the event:

“It was definitely bittersweet,” said Barnes, who coached two seasons at Estancia. “I love Estancia. I care for these kids deeply. I wish I could have been here to keep building this program, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”

“It’s a place to call home,” Osso said of the new football stadium. “Rather than having to go to Newport Beach to play a home game now we’re at least in our city to play. It’s a nice thing to have.”

There hasn’t been an Estancia coach with a long tenure since John Liebengood (1986-1997).

Dave Perkins followed, 1999-2000, then two-year stints came from Jay Noonan, Craig Fertig and Barnes. D’Agostino is hoping to end that trend.

“Ultimately, we want a coach who’s going to be here for the long run,” D’Agostino said. “Estancia has had too many coaches in too few years. We’re going to hire tough that’s really important. We will hire tough and we will hire someone who is here for the long run.

“The stadium is going to be here for the long run. We want a coach who will be here for the long run, too.”

STEVE VIRGEN is the sports editor of the Daily Pilot. He can be reached at (714) 966-4616 or via e-mail at [email protected].