The Fountain Hills High School football field needs to be replaced, and resident Gary Zauner is spearheading a fundraising effort to get the job done.

When the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs come to Phoenix for Super Bowl LVII this Sunday, Zauner said he will be rooting for James Winchester and Rick Lovato over everyone else. Zauner always roots for special teams players, but this Super Bowl is unique because he has coached the long snappers on each team.

Zauner coached 13 seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals. He bought a plot of land in FireRock Country Club before his job with the Cardinals, and he’s been a full-time resident of Fountain Hills ever since he retired from the NFL in 2007.

Zauner has served as a volunteer coach for the Fountain Hills High School football program since he retired, and he also runs a kicking consulting service. Zauner used to host his annual special teams combine for college senior kickers and free agents at the Fountain Hills High School football field, but not anymore. He said the current condition of the local field is unacceptable.

The field was inspected most recently on Dec. 9, 2022, through a test known as g-max impact evaluation. The field was tested by Firefly Sports Testing, and it was determined that the field is unusable for next season in its current state.

Zauner is a concerned citizen that wants to see Fountain Hills football flourish, and to him, that requires an up-to-date football field. Zauner has seen firsthand how much the field deteriorated and how quickly it went downhill in the past two years.

While funding to replace the field would have been provided through passage of the bond measure this past November, the field is one of many projects that is either being put on the back burner or scrapped due to its failure. Athletics, as a whole, have been hit hard, with teams already fundraising for their own programs to make ends meet.

Zauner said he doesn’t care about the political debate over the field, he just cares for student athletes and their ability to play football and soccer on their own home field.

“As a special teams coach, you use people from defense and people from offense, and together with defense, offense and special teams, you win games,” Zauner said. “I view [the field] the same way. I don’t care if they’re far right Republicans, or they’re far left Democrats, I’m just trying to do what’s best for the kids and raise money because I know one thing, how good football was for me. That’s the bottom line.”

The turf field behind Fountain Hills High School was originally installed in 2014. The warranty in writing was for eight years, but the School Board in 2014 was presented with a 10-year warranty deal. The eight-year warranty expired on Dr. Cain Jagodzinski’s second day as Superintendent in 2022, but he worked with a warranty director from Synthetic Turf Resources (STR), the company that bought the company that originally installed the turf field, to honor a 10-year material only warranty.

STR will cover the cost of the new turf, but not taking out the old turf or installing new turf. Jagodzinski was given a quote of $425,000 for that work, and he is exploring options to lower the price.

Zauner thinks more than the field could use replacement. He said the scoreboard and sound system should be upgraded soon, too, and he also said it might be possible to reuse some of the old turf in other areas.

Time is a big factor in this process to get a new field. Zauner and some others believe they need to raise the money by the end of February to schedule contractors to come and install the new field before August this year. Jagodzinski hasn’t received a hard deadline for the payments yet, but he said the sooner, the better.

If funds aren’t raised, or not in time, there are only two options for Fountain Hills High School athletics. The student athletes and their fans could travel all the time and make every game an away game, or they could play on the middle school field.

Zauner thinks the lack of a home field will have a negative impact on high school athletics and possibly enrollment. Football and soccer are most directly affected, but cheerleading and the marching band will also be hampered if they aren’t able to perform in front of a home crowd.

Zauner is a donor himself, and he is looking for others to join him. He is encouraging families to donate tax credits and is speaking with his neighbors in FireRock to rally involvement and support. Zauner created a video to promote the “Field of Dreams” field fundraiser and the first 15 seconds of the video shows drone aerial shots of the field from 2014 and one from 2022 for comparison.

His video can be found by searching “Gary Zauner field of dreams” on YouTube. Tax credit information can be found on the district website, fountainhillsschools.org, under the “Families” tab.

There are several ways to learn more about the fundraiser. The Fountain Hills Booster Club has information and links to Zauner’s video and more at fhsports.org/fieldofdreams. There is also a gofundme page at gofundme.com/f/help-replace-a-condemned-hs-footballsoccer-field.

Interested parties can also attend the next “Coffee with Cain” session at 9 a.m. in the District Learning Center next Wednesday, Feb. 15, to hear directly from the superintendent. Krista Andrea, executive assistant to Jagodzinski, can also be reached for information or assistance at 480-664-5011.