Around Town: Flintridge Prep football is headed back home

The great thing about Flintridge Prep’s return to eight-man football is that the home games can be played at Prep, on their athletic field. 　

The season opens on Aug. 26 with an away game at Fulton Prep in Van Nuys. The following week, on Sept. 2, there’s a home game against Westmark, on the Prep athletic field.

Ever since our son played football at Prep, we’ve been fans. But for two decades of 11-man football, Prep has struggled with where to play their home games. The Prep athletic field is too small for 11-man football, but the right size for the smaller team.

California has more than 100 eight-man high school teams. Eight-man football uses a narrower field. Since eight-man has three fewer players, the field is about 13 yards narrower. An 11-man field is 55.3 yards wide. The width of an eight-man field is 40 yards.

Prep originally played eight-man and the narrow field fit the dimensions of its athletic field.

When Prep switched to 11-man in the 1990s, they had to look elsewhere for their home field.

Over the years, Prep hosted home games at St. Francis, La Cañada High, Ribet Academy and even Occidental College.

Win or lose, something was always missing — that undefinable quality of playing on a home field, where families can tailgate, sneak in some wine coolers (for the moms) and cheer for the team.

At one point, Prep had the opportunity to purchase part of the former Ambassador College site on Saint John Avenue in Pasadena. The school elected to stay put in La Cañada Flintridge, where the Prep community has continued to contribute to our city, thanks to headmaster Peter Bachmann’s civic-minded approach.

The Ambassador site, including eight acres, indoor competition-size swimming pool, a full-size, 1,000-seat gymnasium, weight rooms, locker rooms, and a modern, fully-stocked football field, was purchased by Maranatha High School in 2004.

With the rising cost of real estate, and the close proximity of St. Francis, LCHS and Prep, some of us asked, “why not collaborate?” Why not build a Maranatha-quality athletic facility that could be shared by all the schools in La Cañada?

Imagine a community sports center, shared and funded by the city and local high schools, with state-of-the-art aquatic, tennis, football, baseball, soccer, weight rooms, locker rooms and cardio-training centers.

The idea did not get traction. Different schools have competing schedules, different standards and a variety of budgets.

There’s a saying in Spanish, “ni modo.” We say “ni modo” when we see a better idea, but no one else agrees. It does not connote impotence so much as acceptance. “Ni modo” is a cross between “oh well” and “Namaste.”

So it was, “oh well, Namaste, and ni modo,” for the last 20 years.

But now, the football field problem is solved.

Prep’s classes will be back in session Aug. 30. Prep football has come home.

It’s time to pack the plastic tablecloth, and stock the picnic cooler with white wine, root beer and Gelson’s take out. That, plus Pokemon cocktails “to go” from the Flintridge Proper.

And champagne.

School’s nearly back in session. It’s time for Prep football.

Right here on Foothill Boulevard.

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ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Contact her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. Follow her on Instagram @realanitabrenner, Facebook and on Twitter @anitabrenner.