Football field hosts more than just Trojan greats

• USC Maintenance workers play soccer on Howard Jones Practice Field.
• Workers find friendship, camaraderie and much-needed fun from impromptu soccer games.
• Manager says they are dedicated to the sport and their jobs.

Over the years, Howard Jones Practice Field has hosted football greats such as Carson Palmer, Reggie Bush and Matt Leinert. This field, located on the west side of the University of Southern California campus, is where these players first took the field as Trojans and worked their way to Heisman glory. 

But this field is also home to some lesser-known athletes, the maintenance workers who clean and groom the field. 

These men arrive at work around 5 a.m., cleaning the campus at an hour so early that most students don’t even see them performing the majority of their work. 

Soccer Break

But at 11:30 each day, the maintenance workers stop edging or mowing and meet in the corner of Howard Jones to play soccer during their lunch break. Taking off their stiff uniforms for more comfortable T-shirts and jerseys, these workers play during what is often the hottest part of the day, but that doesn’t seem to bother them. 

These games are informal and rarely draw a crowd or ESPN reporters to analyze their plays, but that doesn’t mean the players don’t take it seriously. 

“We have a lot of Hispanic guys that really love soccer,” said Eric Warren, athletic field supervisor and USC employee since 1974. “Anyone who would come out here on their lunch break and play in this heat and go at it like they’re going at it have to really love the game.” 

  

Though Warren rarely joins the game, he also spends his break out on the field, socializing and cheering on his employees. 

Like Warren, some of the workers enjoy taking part in the action while others enjoy rooting them on from the sidelines. 

Painter Turned Player

For Jesse Barralagalara, a painter at USC, soccer gives him a chance to reconnect with his native country of Honduras.

“I did play for a team in my country, Honduras,” Barralagalara said during a time-out from the soccer game.  

 He emigrated alone from Honduras 22 years ago to start a new life in Los Angeles. Though his brother and sister live in Southern California, it took Barralagalara a while to transition to his new life in L.A. 

But since he began working for USC three years ago, playing soccer with his co-workers has helped him feel comfortable in his new home. 

“We start playing and then we [get to] know each other and then we become friends,” Barralagalara said. “It’s a good thing.” 

Keeping the Field Green

Careful not to mess up their hard work, the men do not play on the grass they spend hours each day grooming but on the fake turf in the corner of the field. 

“That’s our prize right there and we can’t afford to be just messing it up,” said Julio Cesar Carbajal, Howard Jones field manager. 

When the clock strikes 12, the workers put on their uniforms and go back to cleaning the field. And although they will never become Heisman winners, it’s these morning soccer games that connect them to one another and give them something to look forward to each day.    

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Read about the USC Marathon Team here