Hundreds of high school students filled the stands at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated Los Alamitos High School track and field Tuesday that ended with track and football practices.

This was the first time the teams could practice at the same time, according to Los Alamitos Unified School District Superintendent Sherry Kropp.

“In the history of Los Alamitos high school, we've never been able to have our field sports practice at the same time at their home school,” Kropp told the crowd.

The student-athletes in attendance did a lap of the rubberized track after 15 minutes of speeches, circling a facility that administrators said hasn't been in such good condition for years.

“I have been here for 33 years and I want you to know I don't know where all the mud's gone,” said legendary football coach John Barnes, for whom the field is named. “We have a facility that was way overdue.”

Kropp said the renovations will keep more kids practicing at their home field, giving coaches greater oversight of all levels of competition and kids a better sense of ownership of their field. Thanks to new field lights, soccer, lacrosse, football and track teams can practice and play games at night.

Track coach Nathan Howard said in an interview that the track team will finally be able to host a home match at the school after two years of problems. School board members have mentioned hoping to hold a CIF meet at the field in future.

“It's been a long time that we started the project,” Howard told the crowd. “Los Al, this is your field. It's not the track field, it's not the football field, it's Los Al's field. All programs will enjoy the use of this facility, so take care of it.”

Barnes said the facility will shine as one of the best in Southern California. “This is a beacon for you to be proud of throughout this community, throughout Orange County and Southern California,” he said to the students.

But neighbors living in the area around the field say the lights shine too bright, disrupting their evenings in tests done so far. In meeting after meeting with the district as well as Los Alamitos City Council, they've said the lights were erected without proper consideration of their impact on the neighborhood. Assistant superintendent Patricia Meyer has said the project was exempt from an environmental impact report.

Viki Howard, who protested against the lights at the rally, said she was worried by the district pushing back a prior 8 p.m. lights-out deadline to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

“That's my weekend, to sit out and barbecue, it's going to be embarrassing bringing people here,” she said.

Kropp said the hours of operation are a framework and that more shields will be added to the lights to further limit glare on the neighbors' houses, with a calibration test scheduled for Nov. 20. The board has said it will set up a hotline residents can call with concerns about the lights.

Speakers at the school board meeting later on Tuesday spoke to the value the field brings Los Al's sports culture, including Los Alamitos math teacher Amy Weis, a mother of a Los Al graduate she said was jealous of his younger brother on the soccer team.

“He could never play in front of his friends because they all had activities and practices they had to go to at 3 o'clock in the afternoon,” Weis said.

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