Wellen Park High School hosts its first-ever football game Friday, Aug. 14, when the Eagles take on North Port in the FHSAA Kickoff Classic. The preseason contest debuts a $200 million campus that is Sarasota County's first new public high school in 25 years and is launching all 28 varsity sports simultaneously.

The stadium seats 6,080. Athletic director Phu Nguyen believes that's the largest capacity in the district.

The gymnasium holds 3,446, complete with a luxury suite featuring a full kitchen and a VIP lounge window overlooking the court. A "Liberty Bell" sits in one end zone of the football stadium, to be rung by students at graduation. The 325,000-square-foot school sits on 81 acres in North Port and opened Monday, Aug. 10, welcoming more than 1,200 students, according to WWSB.

28 sports from the start

Principal Mark Grossenbacher made the unusual decision to field every varsity sport in year one. He began hiring coaches in October 2025, eventually bringing on 28 head coaches and coordinating roughly 70 volunteer assistants.

"When you build a high school, you're not building it for the past," Grossenbacher told the Herald-Tribune. "Why would we build something to look like everyone else? We're building it for the future."

The athletic complex goes well beyond the stadium. All fields use FIFA-certified artificial TenCate turf. The Pittsburgh Pirates visited and played on the surface this summer and decided to use the same material for their own stadium, according to Grossenbacher. The campus also includes a dedicated wrestling practice room, a training room with ice baths, beach volleyball courts and a baseball field with an artificial surface.

Building a roster from scratch

Head football coach Sascha Hyer, a former assistant at Venice, was Grossenbacher's first coaching hire. The two have known each other since 2001, when both coached at North Port High School, the last school to open in the county before Wellen Park.

Hyer assembled his roster primarily from transfers from Venice, North Port and Lemon Bay, with a few players arriving from out of state. Nearly 100 turned out for fall practice, enough for both a varsity and JV squad.

The challenge: no spring practice and a weight room that opened late left the Eagles months behind established programs. The team attended an FCA camp over the summer and held its own against Auburndale and Hardee, according to The Sun.

Junior running back William Campbell, a Venice transfer, said he was "flabbergasted" to be part of the program's first team. Senior defensive lineman Colin Gilkerson, also from Venice, said earning his starting spot at defensive tackle felt like laying a foundation for the school's future.

What's ahead

The Class 3A Eagles open the regular season Friday, Aug. 21, at Mariner, then host Gateway for their first home regular-season game. Hyer built the schedule around competitive matchups with 3A and 4A programs, including DeSoto, Cardinal Mooney, Bayshore, Lemon Bay, Booker, Braden River, Southeast and East Lee County.

The Sun ranked Friday's Kickoff Classic against North Port No. 7 among the top 10 area games to watch this fall.