East LA Classic
Encyclopedia
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
game for both James A. Garfield High School
Garfield High School (Los Angeles County, California)
James A. Garfield High School is a public, year-round high school founded in 1925 in East Los Angeles, an unincorporated section of Los Angeles County, California. The school was made famous by the film Stand and Deliver about a teacher named Jaime Escalante...
and Theodore Roosevelt High School
Theodore Roosevelt High School (Los Angeles)
See also Roosevelt High School for schools of the same nameTheodore Roosevelt High School is a high school located in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, California named for the 26th president of the United States....
. It is known as the East L.A. classic, because the two schools were among the first schools to be established in the East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles (region)
East Los Angeles is the portion of the City of Los Angeles that lies east of Downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River and the unincorporated areas of Lincoln Heights, west of the San Gabriel Valley, East Los Angeles and City Terrace, south of Cypress Park, and north of Vernon, California and...
area. The Classic is one of the most highly acclaimed and attended high-school football games west of the Mississippi and has taken place since 1925, the year of Garfield's establishment (with the exception of a span from 1939 to 1948 due to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
). As of the 2009 game, along with 6 ties, Roosevelt leads Garfield in the wins column with 39 wins to Garfield's 29.
The Classic brings out alumni from all parts of the world, usually fielding crowds in excess of 25,000 per game and has been held at Weingart Stadium
Weingart Stadium
Weingart Stadium is a 20,355-seat multipurpose stadium located at East Los Angeles College, in Monterey Park, California. It was built in 1951 at a cost of $3.1 million, and following renovations in 1984 it was renamed....
on the campus of East Los Angeles College
East Los Angeles College
East Los Angeles College is a community college of the Los Angeles Community College District in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park. Fourteen communities comprise its primary service area...
, in Monterey Park, California
Monterey Park, California
Monterey Park is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. The city's motto is "Pride in the past, Faith in the future"...
, for much of its existence. The event was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
for a few years before returning to its original location at Weingart Stadium.
On Feb. 12, 2011, the rivalry held its first alumni game with Garfield defeating Roosevelt, 19-12.