Athletic foundations built up under Parsel

Estancia High Boys Athletic Director Tim Parsel witnessed plenty of

success stories in the 2004-05 season, but perhaps there were none

greater than the transformation of the very foundation of what the

programs are built upon.

The upcoming Estancia sports year will be vastly different than in

years past, all due to massive field and structural renovations that

have been completed or are currently taking place.

The end result is expected to be realized in the upcoming months,

as all of the projects -- which Parsel said combine to complete the

largest renovation project in school history -- come to a close.

“All of [the sports programs] will benefit a great deal,” Parsel

said. “The fields will be safer, more level with less bad patches,

and all the field sports will benefit a great deal. And the pool will

be much better in the long run.”

When it’s all said and done, all three soccer fields -- which

double as football practice fields -- the lower-level (frosh/soph,

junior varsity) football game field, the varsity baseball and

softball fields, the pool and the practice gym will all have been

redone, Parsel said.

In addition, the floor in the main gym has been resurfaced and the

tennis courts are expected to be resurfaced in the near future, he

said.

Outside of sports, the front administration offices are going

through renovations, as the staff has been working out of portables

during the summer months.

“The school is going through renovation all the way around,”

Parsel said. “We can’t even receive mail right now. We have to go

pick up the mail in bulk every few days.”

All of the fields -- which took about eight to 10 weeks to

complete -- will be available at the end of August, Parsel said. But

the work on the pool has ran into a hitch, he added.

Initially slated to be completed prior to the beginning of the

girls water polo season in November, an electrical problem that has

turned into a construction code issue, has delayed the completion

date about five weeks, Parsel said.

“Now it’s up in the air,” he said. “We could be in limbo. We knew

it wouldn’t be done for the boys water polo season [in the fall], but

now it could cut into girls water polo.

“But this has all badly been needed. It’s been on the work order

for years.”

The fields, though completely re-grown, still need irrigation

work, which “has been put on the backburner,” Parsel said.

“We’re hoping for a few more wet seasons,” he added.

Still, this year will represent a vast improvement from the

2004-05 season, when the boys and girls soccer teams had to find

alternate sites to play home games.

According to Parsel, the money for all of the renovations is

coming from a maintenance fund from within the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District.

And there might be more funding in the near future for athletic

equipment and officials costs, he said.

Until then, the Estancia athletic programs will enjoy the new

fields.

“We’re just looking forward to getting out there and having good

grass,” Parsel said.

In addition to new practice fields, the Estancia football team

will have another new component in the fall -- Brian Barnes was hired

in April as coach after Craig Fertig stepped down.

Barnes, 25, is the son of Los Alamitos football coach John Barnes,

the winningest coach in Orange County history with 240 victories,

along with four CIF Southern Section titles.

“The big thing now is we’re getting ready to start football season

with a new coach,” Parsel said. “This is the main student social

event, so we’re really looking forward to it.”

Fertig was asked to step down in March after two years at the

helm. The school wanted to find an on-campus coach, Parsel said then.

Estancia opens the football season at Sept. 2 against Corona del

Mar at OCC.