CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) – Many generations of Mavericks finally got their wish granted Tuesday morning when Mesa Verde High School broke ground on an impressive, brand-new sports complex.

“Finally, is the word that I keep hearing a lot,” said MVHS Athletic Director and alumnus Travis Miller at the groundbreaking ceremony. “Alumni, students and anyone connected to Mesa Verde knows this is a long time coming.”

Mesa Verde opened in 1975. This is the seventh of nine signature projects for the San Juan Unified School District. The new complex will have a stadium designed for football and track and field as well as new tennis courts.

“Groundbreaking ceremonies have a long history and significance,” Miller said. “They are ways to signify the importance of a place and that’s what we’re here to do. Over the years, many of us have dreamed of this project coming to fruition.”

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The stadium will include bleachers on each side, a press box on the home sideline, a scoreboard and flagpole, a building for concessions and restrooms and areas for shot put and discus. The existing softball outfields will be renovated. The new tennis courts will be in between the new parking lots and existing baseball field.

“This stadium project has been many years in the making,” said MVHS Principal Jennifer Petersen. “We are very excited for its completion and for our campus to finally be complete. We are looking forward to creating our own traditions for generations of Mesa students to come.”

Petersen went on to explain the importance of a high school having their own stadium for not only sports, but also social events.

“Football season sets the tone of the culture on a high school campus,” Petersen said. “It’s not something you can really replicate when you play all of your games away on other campuses. The feeling of excitement on a campus on game days is why I love working and being a part of a high school community. But it’s not just about the game of football, it’s about the social event that is occurring on your campus.

“In addition to the sports events, we will also be able to hold our own graduation ceremony right here on campus [for the] Class of 2024. This stadium will be a wonderful asset, not only to our school, but to the community at large.”

Dignitaries on hand for the ceremony included SJUSD Board President Michael McKibbin, Ed. D, and SJUSD Superintendent Kent Kern.

“I want to recognize the voters in this area that voted for our bond measure, in this case Measure N,” McKibbin said. “These facilities don’t happen without voters saying that we trust you, we want you to improve our properties [and] we want to have facilities that are at the level of creativity, imagination and intellectual ability of our students.”

Three students led the Pledge of Allegiance and each individually spoke. Those students were Tyler Bruno, Jasmine Doyle and Sabrina Ni.

Bruno was wearing a lanyard around his neck displaying a picture, in remembrance of his lost classmate and friend, Antonio “Tony” Rocha, who was killed by gun violence in late May. Rocha played football, wrestled and would have been a senior this school year.

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Mesa Verde has honored Tony in several ways, including memorializing him with his own parking spot. Each year, members of the senior class get to paint and customize their own parking space. Among the spots was one with a green background, with orange and white lettering that read, “#20 Tony Rocha.”

Despite his absence, it’s safe to say that Tony can be counted among the thousands of Mesa Verde students, alumni and community members, that are very proud to say that they finally have a brand-new sports complex on its way.