Aragon High School's stadium has long been known among local coaches and parents as the smallest in the San Mateo Union High School District, and now a petition is asking the district to do something about it. Aragon support groups have circulated a Change.org petition urging the district to address what they call inadequate seating at the school's athletic stadium, pointing to crowded bleachers and a game that had to be moved to another campus.
A Stadium That Can't Keep Up
According to the San Mateo Daily Journal, Aragon's athletic stadium has roughly 650 seats, the smallest seating capacity of any stadium in the district, with tiny visitor-side bleachers that hold only a few dozen spectators. The Change.org petition gives the same approximate total, describing the stadium as having approximately 650 total seats — about 500 on the home side and 150 on the visitor side — and calling for the district to prioritize expanded seating on both sides of the field. Both accounts paint the same picture: a stadium that struggles to hold its crowds.
That strain became impossible to ignore during a homecoming game against Hillsdale. Aragon Outlook reported that the school was unable to accommodate the huge influx of people who came to that Nov. 4 matchup, forcing administrators to move the contest to San Mateo High School, where a combined 2,656 spectators turned out for the junior varsity and varsity games.
Comparing Seats Across the District
The seating gap looks even starker next to Aragon's district rivals. The petition puts Hillsdale's stadium at about 1,800 seats and San Mateo High's at roughly 3,200, alongside a count of around 2,667 seats at Burlingame High School. The district's own facilities records show Hillsdale's Measure M projects included a new artificial-turf field, bleachers, restrooms, an all-weather track and a parking lot, according to the San Mateo Union High School District.
Aragon's own renovations in the mid-2000s brought artificial turf and an all-weather track in 2008, along with new home-side bleachers — but the visitor side didn't get the same upgrade, according to the Daily Journal. District facilities records confirm Aragon's Measure M projects included a renovated stadium field with new turf, an all-weather track, and a new restroom building and bleachers. Other campus projects have been completed at Aragon, and a technology upgrade is ongoing.
The Coach's Perspective
Steve Sell, Aragon's athletic director, has seen the seating shortfall from the sidelines for years and is retiring at the end of the school year. He told the Daily Journal that whenever he coached against Central Coast Section opponents, Aragon's stadium was consistently the field with fewer seats. Sell said he believes a bond measure is needed to address the shortage, adding that he has not heard opposition to expanding seating.
Sell also addressed the physical limits of the current site, saying the bleachers cannot be made much higher but could potentially spread laterally to the south. He described the parents pushing for change as a community that is tired of the issue, saying district administrators are listening. Those support groups — which include Aragon's athletics and music boosters along with the parent-teacher-student organization — have pressed for change on stadium seating, according to the Daily Journal, and the petition states that students, parents and school organizations have been advocating on the issue for more than six years.
Even with the stadium debate unresolved, Sell said he has consistently defended the district's commitment to education-based athletics, telling the Daily Journal that the district's support for sports is on par with or beyond that of any other district. For context on just how cramped gameday can get at Aragon, the school's gym has almost double the stadium's seating capacity, and Sell has said the stadium's name should be “Standing Room Only” — a reminder of how much demand Aragon's outdoor venue is being asked to absorb.
