A San Jose high school football program is reeling from a theft less than three weeks before its first game.
Santa Teresa High football coach Steve Papin told the Bay Area News Group that someone broke into the school’s stadium over the weekend and stole thousands of dollars worth of equipment.
A spokesperson for the San Jose Police Department said an investigation is ongoing.
The items taken included football helmets, a boom box, team apparel and footballs, among other merchandise, according to Papin. The boom box was donated to the program after the Saints won a Central Coast Section championship in 2022.
Perhaps most impactfully, the copper wiring to the stadium lights was cut, rendering them ineffective for the time being.
While Santa Teresa officials initially feared that the wires had been completely removed, much of the wiring remains in the stadium, Papin noted. That will allow repairs to be made in time to have the lights up and running by next week, East Side Union School District spokesman Sergio Diaz Luna told this news organization Tuesday night.
This means Santa Teresa should be able to play all of its night games as scheduled this season, beginning with its Week 1 game against Fremont-Sunnyvale. That’s not an insignificant development, said Papin, who was preparing for the worst — that the lights may be out all season — by trying to reschedule games for Saturday afternoons.
Papin noticed the prospect of no night home games this season seemed to affect his players during practice after news of the theft broke. So, in addition to preparing his team for the season, Papin tried to keep his team motivated in spite of potentially losing some opportunities to perform under the lights in front of friends, family and members of the Santa Teresa community.
“Me, I’m an old-school guy,” Papin said. “I played at 3:30 after school when I was at Piedmont Hills. So I’m used to it. The kids, this generation, they don’t really understand day games. So yesterday’s practice was awful. The three years I’ve been here, we’ve had packed houses for our home games.
“They’re thinking you’re playing on a Saturday, no fans. You didn’t go to school. So they were kind of bummed about that.”
The helmet theft affects some junior varsity players, who may not get acclimated in time for their first game. The theft of footballs has limited the Saints’ supply, but they have “just enough” to get by, Papin said.
Santa Teresa boosters have started a gofundme.com page to make up for the stolen equipment.
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