Ripon Christian Athletic Complex on pace to open this fall for football

A blue Chevy truck pulls into the parking lot at Ripon Christian High School just before sundown, long after the tools have been put away and the crews have gone home.

The passenger door swings open, and out steps Will Kamps, a senior defensive end and one of the Sac-Joaquin Section’s true sack masters.

Once or twice a week, Kamps visits the site of the Ripon Christian Athletic Complex, the future home of the football and soccer programs, to check on the progress of the construction.

Really, though, he comes out here during this magical hour, when the sun bows to the moon, to dream. To dream about the glow of those Friday night lights. To dream about the thrill of the first victory and what it will mean for a program that has been homeless for nearly 12 years.

It won’t be long.

Since the dawn of the program in 2003, the Knights have been vagabonds, staging “home” games across the street at Ripon High, or down the highway at Modesto Christian or Big Valley Christian.

“I’ve grown up going to Ripon High (for home games), but we’ve never really called those home games,” said Kamps, the reigning Southern League Defensive Player of the Year. “This has been something I’ve been thinking about for a while – standing in the team room, waiting for the big metal door to roll up, and then ... and then we walk out onto our field.

“It’s hard to say what it will feel like, but I know I won’t forget that feeling for the rest of my life. It will be amazing to see how far we’ve come as a program.”

Kamps has a vision and contractor Eddie Erdelatz has the plan, but the grand opening of the complex rests with the city. An ambitious three-month schedule has hit a snag just weeks before Ripon Christian’s season opener against Mountain House.

Erdelatz said work on the press box and bleachers has been halted while his company, Cor5 Construction Management, awaits final permits from the city of Ripon’s building department. The delay likely will push back the ribbon-cutting ceremony on the $1.25 million complex. The stadium committee hoped to debut the complex for the Knights’ season opener on Aug. 28. Instead, Erdelatz is targeting a Sept. 11 showdown against Linden.

“Anytime you’re building anything at $1.25 million, whether it’s a house or stadium, it’s a year-long project,” said Erdelatz, who doubles as Ripon Christian’s defensive coordinator. “There are a lot of moving parts to this, and to do what we’re doing, trying to squeeze this thing in, it’s an extremely aggressive schedule.”

The complex will feature restrooms and a concession stand, site and stadium lighting, a team room overlooking the north end zone, a 50-foot cross adjacent to the scoreboard behind the opposite end zone, additional parking and, of course, a press box and bleachers to accommodate 1,500.

“It’s a work in progress,” Ripon Christian athletic director and girls soccer coach Kevin Tameling said, “but we’re coming along.”

Until then, the stadium committee and athletic department will stay busy with small projects around the site visible from Highway 99. On Saturday, student-athletes worked through the morning on the landscaping. Kamps led a work force of about 40 players. His father, Bill Kamps, helped form the stadium committee, which eventually commissioned Erdelatz for the design.

The complex was inspired by facilities in Sonora (Dunlavy Field), Napa, Pacific Grove (Breakers Stadium) and Stockton (Alex G. Spanos Stadium at Lincoln High).

The project gained approval by the Ripon Planning Commission in 2013. Ceremonial shovels were plunged into the ground in February, and construction began in May. The project’s accelerated pace and funding – Erdelatz said 99 percent of the $1.25 million was raised privately in six months – are a testament to the pride and passion of the Ripon Christian Schools community.

The Knights have won 42 Sac-Joaquin Section championships dating to 1971, mostly in basketball, volleyball and soccer. The football program has enjoyed considerable league success, capturing Mountain Valley and Southern League titles, but has yet to break through in the section.

“This is huge. It’s the single most significant area or item of growth for our program,” Erdelatz said. “It’s going to do amazing things for this program and this school.

“Football is on its way to being one of the staple sports at Ripon Christian. You can’t do that without your own facility.”

Kamps has watched the culture – and the stadium – develop from the inside out. There’s a correlation, he says, behind the quick rise of the football program and its stadium: Ripon Christian has built each using only available resources.

A home grown on the shoulders of home-grown talent and their families.

“We’re different than a lot of other programs,” Kamps said. “All the kids I play with I’ve known since kindergarten. We don’t get transfers. We don’t get scholarships. These are kids I’ve grown up with. It’s been amazing to see all these home-grown kids build this program so fast, and it’s a program that’s a force to be reckoned with.”

This story was originally published August 8, 2015 at 8:13 PM with the headline "Ripon Christian Athletic Complex on pace to open this fall for football."