Football Team Faces New Challenges After Removal of Sean Taylor Memorial Field

Construction+is+well+underway+on+the+upper+school+campus+field.

Diego Collazo

Construction is well underway on the upper school campus “field”.

Diego Collazo, Staff Writer
September 2, 2022

The football team faces various obstacles this upcoming season, most notably with the football field in the Upper School campus now uprooted for construction.

Having faced many challenges this summer, concerns from both players and coaches are growing now that the season is underway. Where will they play? How will this affect their performance in games? What will the new field be named? All these questions are very much present in the minds of the school community.

“The most difficult challenges we’ve been experiencing this year are our transportation of equipment and how we get to and from practice,” Head Coach Earl Sims said.

The football team holds its practices at either Colonial Drive Park or the Marian C. Krutulis Lower School campus, making practices start and end much later.

“Compared to last year, it’s taking much longer to get to practice because the field is so much farther,” said quarterback Stefano Luis.

Not only is the distance impacting the practices, but also the lack of necessary equipment on the field.

“It’s been difficult having to carry all the equipment on the bus like tents and coolers compared to last year where everything was already set up,” said freshman Luc Carrol.

Even though the team faces several obstacles, Sims is still very optimistic about the season and does not think that it will affect the team’s performance. Some players mentioned they do miss their fans when the games were held on campus last year.

“I will miss home games a lot and the home crowd,” said Stefano Luis.

A very big question for players and fans alike is what the new field will be called as the last field was named in memory of NFL player and Gulliver alum, Sean Taylor.

“I sure hope that the new field [will] still [be] called Sean Taylor Memorial Field,” Sims said.

The team hopes to see the new field sometime in January. For now, they want to see fans at their home games which will take place at Tropical Park, located at 7900 SW 40th St. The Raiders will face off against the Benjamin School at their first home game of the season on Thursday, Sept. 15.