Buhach Colony High football coach Kevin Navarra could barely contain his excitement as he addressed the crowd. “Wow, what a day,” Navarra exclaimed. “We have finally arrived at our home place, our home field!” There were athletes from football, soccer, track and flag football in the stands as the Merced Union High School District and the school held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new on-campus football stadium on Thursday afternoon.

 

The ceremony was attended by District officials, school administrators, local leaders and many coaches and athletes. Former Buhach Colony football coach Kevin Swartwood was on hand and thanked everyone that made the new stadium possible. “What an amazing day to celebrate this awesome facility,” Swartwood said. “To all the people behind me and the people behind the scenes that had anything to do with this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is just something that has been a long time coming. It’s going to be something that all the students can enjoy for years and years to come.”

 

Construction for the stadium started on June 10, 2024 with the stadium completed on Dec. 1, 2025. The stadium will seat just over 3,00 fans and includes a brand new rubberized eight-lane track, a new pressbox, state of the art video scoreboard, a ticket booth, home side concession stand and athletic room, and visitor side concessions with an athletic room, restrooms and concessions.  The new athletic field will accommodate all field sports including football, soccer, flag football and track & field.

Buhach Colony opened in 2001 and since opening the football program has had to share Dave Honey Stadium across town at Atwater High. The Thunder have never truly had a home football game. So in that sense, the new stadium is a game-changer. “Atwater High School was never your home, you made it your home the best you could,” said MUSHD Superintendent Alan Peterson. 

 

Peterson said he remembered many Friday nights having to open the doors for Swartwood and Navarra during the seven years he spent as principal at Atwater High. He said arriving at the new stadium on Thursday, he felt something special. 

 

With  El Capitan High School’s new football stadium opening soon all six MUHSD high schools will have their own on-campus stadiums. That’s rare for a school district this size in California. 

“The fact that our District has set a standard for each one of our sites in our boundary, I’m excited,” Navarra said. “The goal to have a stadium, the goal to have lights, the goal to have gyms, pools, if you just look at the process and progress over the last few years, there was a plan, there was a vision, and our cabinet has done a great job of achieving that.”

 

The first games to be played in the new stadium will be on Monday, Dec. 15 with boys and girls soccer hosting a doubleheader against Delhi at 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Fans can attend the games for free.

The new video scoreboard at the stadium still honors Merced Police Officer Stephan Gray, who was killed in the line of duty. The Gray family was on hand for the opening ceremony of the stadium. “Stephan Gray is still honored today as we transition,” Navarra said. “One of the best things I think our boosters did in the beginning was to honor Officer Gray for the sacrifice he made for our community.”

 

Navarra urged the student athletes in the stand to continue using the road warrior mentality the Thunder programs have embraced since the school opened to continue adding to the success of the athletic programs. “Playing across town, I’m thankful, a place to play and many schools up and down this state and area have to share stadiums,” Navarra said. “But now we have a place to call our own.”

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.