He is rarely able to toss a football. Most of the time, Jim Scott is confined to a wheelchair, and in his Estancia High School jersey — covered in patches from the school's championship teams — he maintains a sporty look. His friends use words like "pit bull" and "military" to describe him, but his voice, for the time being, is mostly silent.
Scott, who helped launch the campaign 10 years ago to bring a stadium to Estancia, has sat on the sidelines for the last few months as his dream became a reality. In April, the 80-year-old Costa Mesa resident suffered a stroke, and it may take years for his health to improve. When the Newport-Mesa Unified School District breaks ground on the Estancia stadium in January, then, Scott will probably not wield one of the shovels — but his colleagues hope that he can perform another feat.
That would be a single victory lap around the Estancia track. It may take a scooter, it may take an hour to complete, but the other members of Costa Mesa United want to see their founding father make it once around.
