San Diego honors Lincoln High football, state champions even without a field to practice on – San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego City Council honored Lincoln High’s football team Tuesday for winning the state championship even though the team’s practice field was unusable all season.
The council also formally welcomed San Diego FC, the city’s first franchise in Major League Soccer. San Diego FC, which won its first game last weekend in an upset over the LA Galaxy, plays it first home game Saturday.
Councilmember Henry Foster, a Lincoln High grad who played football at the same southeastern San Diego high school, congratulated the team on winning its second state championship in three years.
“The coaches, players and Lincoln High School football fans experienced a season to remember,” he said.
Coach David Dunn said the team had to take buses to practice fields across the southern part of the city after its on-campus practice field was deemed unsafe because of flooding problems.
“This was definitely one of our most challenging seasons — not having a field to practice on is really hard,” Dunn told the council. “We stuck together, not just mentally but also physically.”
Star player Aidan Jackson said he and his teammates are proud to bring home a championship.
“We’re honored to not only represent southeast San Diego and bring the well-deserved attention to our community, but to also represent all of San Diego County,” he said.
Several members of the team joined Jackson at City Hall. They wore sweatshirts saying “Lincoln High State of Mind — Against All Odds.”
Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said many teams might have not have overcome the field problem they did.
“To not allow any excuse — even literally not having a field to practice on — stand in your way is incredible,” he said.
Before that, Mayor Todd Gloria welcomed San Diego FC and said San Diegans should be excited to have a soccer team playing at the highest level of the sport.
“Within the world of mayors, there are a lot of folks jealous we got an MLS franchise,” Gloria said.
The team’s first home game is versus St. Louis at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium in Mission Valley. Tom Penn, the team’s chief executive, handed out team scarves to council members.
