Two Fort Lauderdale high school football teams will get to return to a field at Chase Stadium after a recent move to a rival school sparked a community backlash.
The Broward School Board agreed Tuesday to pay $41,500 so that Fort Lauderdale High and Stranahan High can play their remaining home games this season at the Baptist Health Community Field at Chase Stadium. (Chase Stadium was built on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium.)
Fort Lauderdale High will play its first game at the community field next week, on Sept. 25, against Cooper City High, with Stranahan’s first game scheduled for Oct. 3 against South Plantation High. The two schools had been playing this season’s home games at Dillard High in Fort Lauderdale.
Chase Stadium, owned by the city of Fort Lauderdale, is the current home of Inter Miami CF, the Major League Soccer team whose ownership includes soccer great David Beckham. The high school teams will play at an auxiliary field at the complex, which is at 1350 NW 55th St., Fort Lauderdale.
Lockhart Stadium, demolished years ago, used to be a home to high school and youth football.
The Baptist Health Community Field at Chase Stadium is seen, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025 in Fort Lauderdale. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Fort Lauderdale and Stranahan had been playing at the site for more than a half-century, except for years the new stadium was undergoing construction. But many at the school were surprised to learn this summer this year’s games were scheduled to be played at Dillard High in Fort Lauderdale.
Dillard hasn’t been a good fit, Richard Dunbar, head football coach at Fort Lauderdale High, told the School Board. He said his team has faced disputes with Dillard staff over issues such as where to bring in snacks and where to evacuate during a thunderstorm.
“We’re simply not wanted at Dillard,” Dunbar said. “It’s been nothing but confrontation and issues and problems.”
Dillard officials did not attend the meeting.
Carrie Zucker, a Fort Lauderdale High parent and alumnus, said students and parents miss their stadium.
“We were all saddened to learn that we wouldn’t be there supporting our school in the same stadium,” she said. “The numbers have declined. The kids have less interest in going.”
The district decided to use the Dillard stadium to house multiple football teams as part of a $1.5 million renovation, which includes a new artificial turf. Although the plans had been in the works for about two years, Board member Sarah Leonardi, who represents the school, said she didn’t hear about it until about a month ago.
“Staff could have done a better job communicating that decision so that we wouldn’t be at the point that we are now,” district administrator Valerie Wanza told Leonardi.
Heather Brinkworth, a former School Board member and Stranahan alumna, said School Board members were given false information that there was no cost for the two schools to play at Dillard. She said the schools have to pay for custodians, a site coordinator, gate workers and security at Dillard.
“How much revenue will the schools lose? How will the athletic departments be impacted?” she asked the board. “How does this impact school spirit? And what about the cost to students’ feelings of worth as community members?”
While board members approved the agreement, they said the district needs to come up with a long-term solution to address all seven high schools that have no stadiums.
The other five schools are Plantation High, Hollywood Hills, West Broward in Pembroke Pines, J.P. Taravella in Coral Springs and Monarch in Coconut Creek.
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“The fact that we’ve got seven schools that you can’t play at is not acceptable,” Board member Maura Bulman said. “We have to invest in it.”
Board members noted that Broward County leads South Florida as the county with the most alumni on NFL rosters. There were 48 such players on the rosters during the first week of the season, more than the total from Miami-Dade (33) and Palm Beach (10) counties combined.
“We are producing amazing football players and amazing athletes,” Bulman said.
