This upcoming fall when the weather changes from very hot to warm and the leaves change from bright green to hues of orange, red, yellow and light green, Paly students will once again flood into school, eager to start another fall filled with the excitement of new classes, spirit week, and of course, football.

 Palo Alto High’s football stadium lights illuminate the turf and stands of cheering students year after year. Although most of the beloved Paly traditions will stay the same, one thing will be different under the weekly Friday night lights.   Paly has decided to change the name of the football stadium from Viking Stadium to Earl Hansen Viking Stadium, in order to honor a long time coach and influential figure in the Paly community.

Earl Hansen was the Paly football coach for over 20 years. During his reign he brought Paly to the state championships and won.

“He gave a lot to our community, to our school,” Principal Brent Kline said. 

Hansen also acted as Paly’s athletic director during his time here and put his entire focus into bettering every Paly sport and individual athlete. He has truly had such a legacy with the culture at Paly. The Alumni group thought it was only fitting to have the football stadium, the location of a program which he impacted so much, be named in his honor. 

The Alumni group put the call out for donations, and, so far, hundreds of donations from Paly alumni, former coaches, and just about everybody who he impacted have flooded in. The mass amount of donations showed how much of an impact he made on the community and how beloved he was.

The decision to rename Viking stadium to Earl Hansen Viking stadium is a part of Paly’s overall enhancement of the Stadium. 

“We’re just adding some new signage around the stadium as well as sprucing up the scoreboard that will read Earl Hansen as well,” Kline said.

 Paly hopes that the new stadium name will highlight the continuous culture of devotion to the Paly athletic program for years to come, in the same way that Hansen’s devotion to the football program continues to touch the lives of athletes even today.