Birmingham football's trip to Texas providing next-level, first-time experiences

Birmingham will travel out of state for the first time in program history to take on Steele High in Texas Friday night.

The Birmingham Charter football team will travel out of California for the first time in program history this week when it takes on Steele High of Cibolo, Texas, a city northeast of San Antonio.

The game will be played Friday night at Lehnhoff Stadium in Schertz at 5 p.m. (PT)

It's normal to see prominent private school programs take out-of-state trips. St. John Bosco, for example, played a non-league schedule filled with out-of-state opponents, including trips to Florida and Hawaii.

However, it's rare to see Los Angeles City Section programs take flight out of state. The last City team to do so was Harbor City Narbonne in 2017 and 2018 to take on St. Louis High of Honolulu.

The effort by Birmingham coach Jim Rose and school administration to provide the student-athletes with a next-level experience should be applauded. 

"This is really more for the kids that aren't going to play college football," Rose said. "They'll get this experience and remember it forever. It's also great for our program to take this step."

The trip also provides the players with a first-time experience. It might even be an only-time experience.

"We are traveling 49 players," assistant athletic director Lionel Villarreal said. "Roughly 20 of them have never been on an airplane."

Birmingham football players eating at the airport before taking off to play in Texas Friday night

Birmingham (3-1) was able to get all its players on the same flight, a nonstop to Austin, that lands late Wednesday night. One major convenience when considering the logistics is just two players are 18 years old, according to Rose.

"If you are under 18 years old, you just need a student ID to fly," Villarreal said. "That was huge. Any player over 18 needs government-issued identification." 

"It definitely made things a lot easier when planning this trip," Villarreal added with grateful chuckle.

The team will practice at Texas State and get a tour of the campus on Thursday before going to River Walk and The Alamo.

"I'll get to feel young for two seconds," Rose said. "When I played at Cal State Northridge, we played at Texas State. It will be my first time back."

The team get to walk the campus of the University of Texas on Friday and attend a Texas State football game Saturday. The team will also make a pit stop for all-you-can eat BBQ.

"That might be the best part," Rose said.

Birmingham will return home Sunday.

The Patriots, who are the three-time defending Los Angeles City Section Open Division champions, are the best the section has to offer, led by Washington-bound, do-it-all athlete Peyton Waters. Waters was last year's City Player of the Year.

Birmingham's Peyton Waters is the reigning City Player of the Year

Sophomore running back Ronnell Hewitt has rushed for 444 yards and six touchdowns this season. Junior linebacker Eddie Plaza has a team-high 17 tackles and defensive back Cayden Chapelle has been disruptive in the secondary with four pass deflections and two interceptions.

Birmingham will also get the services of transfers Dredon Fowles and Javen Hall, two impact players that came from El Camino Real. The City Section's sit-out period ends on Friday, making all transfers eligible for the first time this season.

Steele competes in Texas high school football's highest division, which is 6A. The Knights have gone 11-1 each of the last two seasons and have been a state power for more than a decade. Since 2007, they've gone 183-36 with a state title in 2010 and losses in the state finals in 2016 and 2011.