It’s almost unbelievable. After years of campaigning, waiting, and enormous effort, we did it. The field was built. For the first time in more than four years, there was a football game on our campus. For the first time in what seems like forever, we have a field we can be proud of.

As the voice of Archbishop Riordan, we, the staff of The Crusader, echo these feelings of pride within our school. We believe our school is now truly entering a new era of greatness.It seems that left and right, Riordan is developing new and exciting additions such as the Engineering Program, Kevin Restani Court, and now, finally, the Mayer Family Field. Both the Development team and our administrators have helped to facilitate these changes, and we applaud their outstanding efforts.

Largely because of these tremendous efforts, we can say with enthusiasm that we love the direction in which Riordan is heading. The school seems upbeat. Sarcastic jokes about the quality of our facilities can no longer be heard in our halls. Every student now knows that he goes to a quality school, and he is glad to be here.

Our new field symbolizes this change. With little doubt, we can say that it is the nicest high school field in San Francisco. Its clean look, colorful surroundings, and large seating section make it the best place to see a football game in the city since Candlestick Park. With this new addition, we are confident that the attendance at our games will rise. Just look at the turnout for the last game of the season (a game in which we blew Sacred Heart Cathedral out of the water, beating them 44-7). The stands were so packed that many had to watch the game standing on the track. We truly believe that this is a turning point for our school.  We’ve waited so long for this. Years of fundraising, of advertising, of waiting, of complaining from the students. Well, no one is complaining now.

We did it. Riordan did it. It’s nothing but blue skies and open roads from here on out. It seems as though we are unstoppable. From the freshmen just starting their time at Riordan to the seniors about to leave, we are excited to see what heights Riordan will reach next. And we are confident that they will be great.