Hundreds of community members attended Ceres Unified School District’s ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 7 to commemorate the completion of the first phase of Central Valley High School’s $16.2-million stadium.
A new era in Hawks’ athletics—football, girls flag football, soccer, track and field and cheerleading—will begin this school year.
“Our Hawks finally have a home not just on Friday nights, but for all the events, competitions, and celebrations in the years ahead—all the triumphs earned through hard work and resilience, the lessons learned in success and upset, the green and maroon worn with Hawk pride, and the memories forged for a lifetime,” CUSD Supt. Dr. Amy Peterman said. “A milestone like this doesn’t happen by chance. It took the support of an entire community deeply committed to its young people to get to this moment.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was staged Friday morning just inside the entrance of the stadium.
Central Valley head coaches Derrick Goblirsch (football), Tony Cordova (girls flag football) and Luis Calderon (track and field) were impressed with what they saw while touring the facility.
“It was really cool to see the whole community come out,” Goblirsch said. “It’s a big deal for everybody. Not just for us and our school. It’s going to bring more pride to our campus. I hope everyone appreciates what we have and we can use it to our advantage. I’m grateful they (Ceres Unified School District, Ceres School Board members and Central Valley High School) made it happen.”
“It’s the first time I got to see it,” Cordova stated. “It didn’t look like the same place. That’s where the shock comes from. We can’t believe the dream has come true. We get to play in an actual stadium there. The playing surface is amazing. The stands seem like they touch the sky.”
“It was a perfect day to showcase the stadium,” Calderon added. “The facility is beautiful. It’s state of the art. Everything pops. I’m happy for the school and community. Everyone has been waiting for this moment.”
Hawk student-athletes Santiago Garcia (football), Junior Gomez (football) and Addisyn Prudhel (girls flag football) were among the host of Hawk student-athletes to attend the unveiling of Central Valley’s new stadium.
“It was a really cool experience to witness history,” said Prudhel, a junior quarterback. “You could feel the excitement. Seeing how fast it was built was pretty cool. It’s a whole other level of progress for our school.”
“Week by week, we’d see more progress,” said Garcia, a senior lineman. “The anticipation was building. To finally step on the field, it felt amazing. I imagined me and all of my teammates running out of the tunnel before our first game.”
“It was a pretty special moment,” said Gomez, a junior quarterback. “We finally get to have our own stadium now. I’m very thankful for the people that made it happen.”
Ceres Unified School District broke ground on the first phase of Central Valley’s Stadium in June of 2025.
Phase I of the project consists of a:
- 1,800-seat home grandstand and press box made of steel;
- 1,000-seat visitor grandstand;
- Ticket/restroom/concessions building;
- Extended bus loading zone and sidewalk;
- Artificial turf field and all-weather track;
- Fencing and improvements to the parking lot and the entrance to the stadium.
Second and third phases will include a home and visitor tool room, and a restroom/concession stand on the visitor side. Funding for those phases will be about $5 million.
The project provides handicapped accessible facilities, including restrooms and bleachers, ramps and a designated wheelchair seating area.
“School culture comes to mind when we do stuff like this, and I mentioned it, but our kids deserve this,” Central Valley Athletic Director Greg Magni stated in a past interview with the Courier. “They don’t have to go anymore and travel to home games. They have a home. And we can do a good job at this school of giving kids a home. We make it a safe place. We prioritize academics and we get them to the next level. And now it’s time to do that on the athletic field as well.”
