by Ethan Piechota

The beautiful, state-of-the-art new athletic stadium on St. John Bosco’s campus opened up with a Braves 49-0 victory Friday night on a legendary day in Bosco history.

Five years. It’s been five whole years since a home football game has been hosted on the campus of St. John Bosco. But no more. Panish Family Stadium officially opened last night on a beautiful night in Bellflower, California.

“I think this is big for the culture of our campus. [This stadium] will bring everybody back together and back on our campus, which is great,” school president Dennis Mulhaupt states.

Not only is this new stadium for football, but is for all athletic teams that use the field in their respective sport to enjoy and to use. It will also be a central point for school rallies and community building exercises that all of Bosco can enjoy.

“We are the only school in the Trinity League that has an on-campus stadium [now],” says Mulhaupt in regard to if this stadium really shows the future of Bosco and its progression as a school.

This new stadium shows how far ahead St. John Bosco is ahead of the curve, which is excellent for school exposure and excellent for many on-campus opportunities as well, such as pre-game tailgates and festivities.

“I think it’s huge for the alumni as well,” says Mulhaupt. “I think there’s a tremendous amount of excitement for this from alumni of all eras. It’s great because for the alumni who haven’t been here in a while can now come back and see how much progression the overall school has made as well.”

Bosco alumni of all eras and graduating classes can all be united as one under this stadium’s opening, as many made the trip back to St. John Bosco High School last night to take in the sights and sounds from game one at Panish Family Stadium.

At the stadium, there’s now a dedicated student section for The Tribe and there’s two press boxes with two suites inside them for VIP purposes. The new scoreboard as well has generated much hype, which will show graphics and video throughout games all year long. The school also plans to use this scoreboard to host future classes for student interested in programming and running a scoreboard of its kind.

For the stadium, Bosco just doesn’t have it’s limits set on hosting sporting events either.

“I think it can accommodate concerts, maybe some parties, and other kind of events for the school such as commencement. We’re really not constrained, it’s going to be up to the students to figure out what they would like to have there,” says Mulhaupt.

With this field in place, students now have the space and opportunity to generate ideas for possible events they may wish to have there, which is an excellent sign for the student body and the school in general.

Parking might continue to be tough for the stadium, especially with limited space in the area, which is why school advisors are telling people to get here early.

Nonetheless, Panish Family Stadium is officially open, so welcome to your new home for sports and activities on campus, Braves!