Muir gets $2 million donation from Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation to build a new softball field

During a recent school board meeting, the Pasadena Unified School District accepted a $2 million donation from the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation to replace John Muir High School's gopher-riddled softball field with a new state-of-the-art synthetic field.

The new field, which will be named the "Kobe and Gianna Bryant Field," is set to begin construction following the spring season and is expected to be completed sometime in August, Muir athletic director Alfredo Resendiz said.

"They're expected to work fast," Resendiz said. "This has been in the works for many months. We're grateful."

The field is named after Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who tragically died in a helicopter crash in 2020.

The field project is expected to be built with a recyclable, PFAS-free synthetic turf system with no infill, which is designed to reduce injuries and heat.

The school board approved the donation after several players and parents had complained that their field had become a safety hazard with its poorly kept conditions.

"Not just gopher holes, but rocks on the infield, it wasn't safe, it wasn't anything that is appealing," Muir softball coach Matt Milton said of the conditions. "This is going to change everything for us, and in our community."

Robert Milton, who is the president and founder of the Alta Pasa Fastpitch youth softball league that he started along with his brother Matt Milton, explained how the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation became involved.

The Alta Pasa Fastpitch recreation and club program uses Muir's facilities for practices and games.

"It's been a long process of networking, and people caring about the kids in our community that got us here," Robert Milton said.

The Alta Pasa Fastpitch league was created in 2018, giving young softball players in Altadena and the surrounding areas their first youth softball league. Not having a true field to practice and play on, they partnered with Muir to use their field, which has also helped transform the Muir softball program.

For decades, Muir was one of the worst softball teams in the entire CIF Southern Section. They had only been to the playoffs once, in 1982. However, the culture has changed over the past few years, and the Mustangs' long playoff drought ended when they made the playoffs in 2024 for the first time in 42 years, advancing to the CIF-SS Division 7 semifinals.

This season, the Mustangs are 13-10 and fighting for a playoff spot again.

Following the Eaton fires in January of 2025, many families at Muir and with the Alta Pasa Fastpitch League lost their homes. NBC did a one-hour special on the impact it had on the Muir softball team and its community. A year later, NBC did a follow-up special on how the program and players were coping, and it garnered a lot of attention.

"There were some great people at NBC, Marina Perelman and Mary Harris, they were awesome in telling our story," Robert Milton said. "They connected me with Taboo (Jamie Gomez) of the Black Eyed Peas, who was working on his ‘Stand Strong; song. But what they didn't know was that Jamie and I had a connection from years back when our kids went to school together. We actually coached youth basketball and softball together, but it had been a while."

Taboo and his daughter Jett were dedicating the "Stand Strong" song to the community of Altadena following the Eaton fire. After Taboo and Robert Milton reconnected, Taboo was so impressed with what the Milton brothers were doing at Muir and with the youth softball league that he offered to debut the new "Stand Strong" video during a Christmas party at John Muir's library on Dec. 13.

"He (Taboo) was great," Robert Milton said. "We hadn't seen each other since our boys were young and he started talking about helping us raise funds, to do a celebrity softball game, that he had a belief in what we were doing. And the next thing you know, he had had a connection to the Mamba foundation, and then we had Mamba interested, and then we get this generous donation. I'm just so grateful not for myself, but for the kids and this community. It's going to change their lives forever."

When the groundbreaking takes place in August, there is one more person Robert Milton is hoping to meet

"I haven't met Vanessa Bryant (Kobe Bryant's widow who oversees the Mamba and Mambacita Foundation), but everything she's doing and the people surrounding her are amazing people with amazing hearts. We didn't expect a donation this big. But as we went over all the things we needed, they kept upping their donation to make this happen. I can't thank everyone enough who has been part of this journey."

The new field will help grow the Alta Pasa Fastpitch softball league, which has its recreation league for ages 6U through 12U and boasts its California Thunder travel team for ages up to U-19. They will benefit by being able to use the new facility along with Muir's softball program.

For the Milton brothers, it's hard to believe that something that started eight years ago with the idea of a youth program that could also help support not just Muir, but schools in the Pasadena Unified School District, has come this far.

"It's incredible, it really is," said Matt Milton, Muir High's softball coach. "It's like we're moving into a new house. What I want our girls to know is that they have to take care of it, appreciate it, and treat it like a new home. Our community has gone through a lot, and now to kind of look to the future, and see where we're going with this incredible donation, it kind of leaves you speechless."

Robert Milton, whose three daughters Marie, Megan and Lesley all grew up playing softball, said the future is exciting.

"For many decades, our kids didn't have a recreational league to call home," Robert Milton said. "They would have to go to leagues in La Canada, San Marino or other places and would not being playing at Muir or at the Pasadena schools. Everything has changed, and it's going to get even better. Again, I'm just so thankful to everyone for their generosity and making dreams come true."

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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 2:03 AM.