The Wauwatosa East High School football team, with its expectations high for this fall's season after a surprisingly successful 2024, is now facing uncertainty about its field, its equipment, its practice schedule and even its first games after the recent floodwaters through Tosa Village covered Hart Park and its stadium.
"I went down there this morning and saw a lake where a football field once was," Coach Tom Swittel said in an email to players and families late Aug. 10. He acknowledged he had yet to get definitive information about the state of the team's facilities and equipment, just days after the team had begun practicing for the fall.
"The water had to have been at least 4 feet high and covered the entire park," Swittel said. "I couldn't get near the locker room. I don't have any idea what the locker room looks like inside. ... My guess is it's not good in there."
After conferring with Tosa East Athletic Director Andrew Thompson, Swittel said the team decided it will cannot host a scheduled Aug. 15 scrimmage at the Hart Park stadium, and Swittel expects it will no longer be able to open its regular season at the park later this month. Practices will move to the fields at Tosa East in the meantime.
"The turf on Hart Park has been lifted up and is no longer attached to its base. The field will need massive construction to get it back to normal," Swittel said. "I hope to get in there tomorrow morning and survey the damage."
He added that "numerous parents, grandparents, and coaches from around the state" have contacted him to "tell me they are willing to help our team in any way possible. A huge thank you to all."
Tosa East's varsity football team, after several lackluster seasons, won its first conference title in nearly 30 years in fall 2024, losing only one game and later avenging that lost in the playoffs with a victory over cross-town rival Tosa West.
Practices for the 2025 season began Aug. 5 on Tosa East's home field in the stadium at Hart Park. Then overnight Aug. 9, more than 7 inches of rain fell on Wauwatosa, swelling the Menomonee River, which runs along the south side of Hart Park. It burst its banks just east of the Tosa Village pedestrian bridge, sending cascading floodwaters across the stadium's south end zone and covering the entire field in water. The locker room and concessions are located south of the field, mere steps from the riverbank.
Hart Park is closed until further notice, the City of Wauwatosa announced on Aug. 10. The park is owned and operated by the city, which this summer was just wrapping up an overhaul of the running track that encircles the football field. The track's lines were applied last week, only to be covered by river water and any mud and debris it has left in its wake. It wasn't immediately clear the extent of the damage or the timeline for potential repairs.
Get additional Tosa Forward News coverage of the 2025 flood here.
