New athletic fields blessed at St. Brendan High

By Ana Rodriguez Soto - The Archdiocese of Miami

MIAMI | Archbishop Thomas Wenski didn’t need much holy water to bless the new athletic fields at St. Brendan High School: a mid-morning downpour ensured every inch of the new football, baseball and softball complex was appropriately drenched.

“God beat me to it,” the archbishop said as he blessed the fields after celebrating Mass with the high school’s student body Feb. 19, 2020.

St. Brendan athletes had played for decades on borrowed fields and less than stellar campus facilities. All that changed with the completion last summer of the $9 million project, which is part of a master plan for redeveloping the entire campus.

The plan began in 2016 with the construction of a brand-new building: a 24,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Innovation Center that houses administrative offices, labs, a TV studio, student lounges and a multipurpose space, all fully wired with Wi-Fi and plug-in workstations.

Like the new building, everything about the new fields is state-of-the-art, said St. Brendan’s principal, Jose Rodelgo-Bueno.

“No other high school has something like this,” he said, adding that “a bunch of important people have come to see this field.” Among them: Dolphins Hall-of-Fame quarterback Dan Marino, Kansas City Royals outfielder Jose Soler, Dolphins center Dan Kilgore, and the University of Miami’s head football coach, Manny Diaz.

In fact, Rodelgo-Bueno said, “the first people to use it in August were UM (football), to do a scrimmage.”

St. Brendan’s football team, which just completed its second season, played on the new turf this fall.

The new facilities feature a multipurpose field for football, soccer and lacrosse teams, all with synthetic turf, permanent lines, LED lighting and a grandstand with seating for 750. That field is surrounded by a new, NCAA-certified, full-pour polyurethane track. Next to that are new baseball and softball fields, both featuring synthetic turf. The facilities also feature new restrooms and a press box complete with air conditioning and electronic controls.

The high school’s master plan calls for the eventual expansion of the gym, a new Olympic-size pool, the renovation of the cafeteria and the construction of an auditorium for the performing arts.