Trona Tornados Do it in the Dirt-Football Legacy

The Trona Tornados Football team has always played on a field of dirt, rather sand, located in the Mojave Desert in the town of Trona, California, and grass is not an option for this school. We "do it in the dirt" and proud of it.

A recent Good Morning America feature, "American Snapshot" of the field, the team and the local school employees in charge of the field gave some nice coverage in film, but not so good coverage to the real situation of the town overall. They rather painted the town as a town not able to care for its self, and that is far from true. There are some here who need some assistance as in any city or local, but overall there is a great life in this little place. True there were thousands here in the 1950's and up until the Searles Valley Mineral Plant changed owners over the years, downsized due to automation, there were as many as 7,000 or more. So with a dwindling population due to job losses of the plant, and local business owners not able to make a go of it, the town is much smaller, but to paint this town as a welfare case is just down right wrong.

That dirt football field represents the grit that is in the local families and their love of their town. The people here do step up. But to make the entire country or world see that snapshot and think we are done in is just not the case. There is spirit, and work, and a calm and easy life style for the residents. Sure there are areas of decay, any town has them, and so what. This town may have a little school now, no school band, and not very many college prep courses, but the students get what they need. The Searles Valley Mineral Plant has been a huge benefactor to the school for years. Sponsoring scholorships, buying uniforms, too many things to list. Not to mention the tax revenue that the school district gets from taxing that mulit-million dollar plant.

We may "do it in the dirt" but when we do we do it right. Those who spoke on the snapshot were and have been trying to do their best for years. But don't think for one minute that the town is going down, it isn't and the dirt field will stay there as a constant reminder of just how tough the generations that passed before and those to come are.

The local businesses support the school, and the teams of players whether football, soccer of baseball. The cheerleaders work hard and are top notch. How many people do you know who relive those high school football days can say, "We did it in the dirt?"

Go Trona Tornados!