Youth Football Club Needs Home Field

A youth football club banned from practicing and playing at two high school football fields has found a place to practice, but is still looking for a home field, league officials said Thursday.

The East Valley Trojans Youth Football Club was barred from North Hollywood and Van Nuys high schools because the schools’ principals said the club’s five teams caused too much wear and tear on the grass.

On Tuesday, football club officials met with North Hollywood Principal John Hyland, who agreed to allow practice on a grassy area on the outskirts of the gridiron, but not on the crown of the field, said Mark Weller, a Trojans coach.

Still, the Trojans won’t be able to play any games at the schools because the principals won’t let them on the fields.

“A lot of the kids are disappointed that there are no home games,” said Tom McDonald, a Trojans assistant coach. “There is a lot of pride involved when you have homecoming, and we won’t have one this year.”

McDonald said he is still angered by the principals’ decisions to ban the club from fields where they’ve played for more than 30 years. “The Van Nuys principal doesn’t care about anyone but himself,” McDonald said. “I pay taxes and I own a piece of that school. Every child should be able to play there.”

Russ Thompson, principal at Van Nuys High School, turned the club away, saying daytime physical education classes, after-school sports teams and night and weekend civic programs have turned the field into a mud bath.

Even though the Trojans have salvaged their season, McDonald said the principals’ action will probably affect the club’s future.

“When we learned we didn’t have a place to play, it came to every team in the club fending for itself,” McDonald said. Coaches tried to find practice and playing fields for their individual teams, he said.

“I don’t know if the East Valley Trojans can survive this,” he said. “We need our own stadium with lights, so we don’t run into this problem in the future.”