LEAGUE CITY — It hurt to watch the Wildcats play on television.
Seeing the lights of the stadium from his League City home hurt even more. But Clear Creek High School alumnus Brian Ivory had no choice.
“I wanted to be out here enjoying all the stuff, but I never could because things were too small or my wheelchair was too big,” he said.
A football fan, Ivory, 19, who suffers from cerebral palsy, returned to campus Friday for the first time since his May graduation.
Nothing was left of the stadium that was once a nightmare for physically challenged people.
The steep slopes are gone, the sales counters at the ticket booths are lowered, the restrooms have grab bars and soap dispensers have been placed within easy reach.
The renovated stadium, which underwent a $4 million facelift during the summer, is now fully compliant with the American with Disabilities Act.
Wheeling up the ramp to the front row bleachers on the home side, Ivory felt empowered.
In his four years at Clear Creek, he could not attend a single game.
The one time he did go to the stadium was for a pep rally, but he had to sit sideways in an aisle and people squeezed past him.
Although nobody meant to exclude him, Ivory felt he was in everyone’s way.
His mother, Julie, shared her son’s frustration for years.
On Friday, seeing the look of happiness on his face, she couldn’t help getting teary-eyed.
“I get the chills,” she said. “I’m so proud of him. Hopefully, he will come to more things on campus.”
Ivory longed for the day he would be part of the crowd, the day he could feel the excitement of a football game firsthand.
A regular contributor to HiLife, the campus newspaper, during his senior year, he wrote several stories about the obstacles disabled students face every day at a high school built almost 50 years ago.
He hoped to raise awareness about the difficulties he and others went through. And he did.
When district officials invited him to Friday’s homecoming game against Alvin High School and told him about the stadium’s refurbishment, Ivory was overjoyed.
“Before I graduated, I would see the work at the stadium, but I had no clue what was going on,” he said. “It’s good not just for me, but for other students like me. I hope other places follow this example.”
District administrators estimate at least 30 students from across the district will benefit from the upgrades made to the stadium. But there are also wheelchair-bound relatives and seniors who are expected to gain from having a facility in the community that’s 100 percent accessible.
For weeks, Ivory, who is studying at San Jacinto College and hopes to become a journalist, counted the days left toward “the big day.”
Friday’s experience, complete with a tour of the press box, was far better than Ivory expected.
“I’m able to hear everything and smell everything,” he said. “The atmosphere is totally different. On TV they go to commercials. I don’t like that. I like to see as much as I can. Being here feels good. It feels like being at Reliant Stadium. It feels like an NFL game.”
