Drive to name M-A baseball field after legend Frank Bettencourt Drive to name M-A baseball field after legend Frank Bettencourt (July 23, 2003)

By Camille Ricketts
Special to the Almanac

Menlo-Atherton High School's baseball field sits alone these days, used only for practices during the regular season, in need of repair. Perhaps it longs for the old days -- when coach Frank Bettencourt fielded his team and embraced the very spirit of the game.

In efforts to capture a piece of this history, the baseball team, led by current coach Joe Fontana, is lobbying to not only renovate the field, but to officially name it after Coach Bettencourt, a man who spent 38 years of his life at M-A teaching the sport he loved.

While serving as head coach from 1957 to 1994 at M-A, Coach Bettencourt also taught physical education classes and managed the East Palo Alto American Legion team for nearly 40 years. Many of Coach Bettencourt's players were recruited by colleges or drafted into the minor league, including current Seattle Mariners Manager Bob Melvin, who played in the majors for the Chicago Cubs and even the San Francisco Giants.

Following his death on April 6, 1999, the high school's site council made up of parents, administrators and teachers, unanimously agreed to name the baseball field in his memory.

"I think it is already considered Bettencourt Field, but no sign has been put up or anything," said Althea Tomijima, a member of the M-A Athletic Boosters. "Naming it [after him] is a way to honor Coach Bettencourt but also a way to possibly motivate former players and others to contribute to refurbishing the field."

As it stands, the field is unfit for game-play, lacking a scoreboard and other improvements, Tomijima said. Instead, the varsity team plays games at Flood Park on Bay Road, using the currently unnamed field exclusively for practices.

The team hopes to complete the field renovations before pitching the new name to the school district for approval. In order to name any school structure, consent is required from both the school's site council and the Board of Trustees of the Sequoia Union High School District.

At the May meeting, the trustees asked the superintendent to draft more specific guidelines for naming district buildings and facilities, said board member Gordon Lewin.

"It is my experience that nothing moves fast at the school district," said Maria Flaherty, also a member of the Boosters.

In order to accelerate the process, a group from the high school, including the baseball team and other advocates for the new name, is raising funds for the field's overhaul. According to the Boosters, the faster the improvements are done, the sooner the field can formally bear Coach Bettencourt's name.

Both Flaherty and Tomijima stressed the importance of naming the field after the coach in light of increasing corporate presence in public schools. While Pepsi emblems plaster scoreboards everywhere, M-A hopes to "buck the trend," Tomijima said.

"I truly believe that public schools should proudly dedicate their buildings and fields to the people who provided service to them," Flaherty said. "It really promotes the idea that good work can be recognized, not just money."

INFORMATION

For more information on renaming and renovating the M-A High baseball field, contact Coach Joe Fontana at jfontana@seq.org.