The Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium is a 3,500 seat

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi- ...

located in Inwood, on the northernmost tip of the island of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, within the Baker Athletic Complex. The stadium is named in honor of Rocco B. Commisso, former co-captain of Columbia's 1970 varsity soccer team, current owner and Chairman of the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

and ACF Fiorentina, and the head of cable television provider

Mediacom Mediacom Communications Corporation is the United States' fifth largest cable television provider based on the number of video subscribers, and among the leading cable operators focused on serving smaller cities and towns. The company has a s ...

History

Opened in 1985, it is home to the

Columbia Lions The Columbia University Lions are the collective athletic teams and their members from Columbia University, an Ivy League institution in New York City, United States. The current director of athletics is Peter Pilling. Ivy League athletics Th ...

men's and women's soccer teams of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and Old Blue RFC of USA Rugby Club 7s and American Rugby Premiership. In September 1997, the stadium hosted a semi-final match of the 1997 U.S. Open Cup between the MetroStars and the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

of Major League Soccer. From May to July 2015, the stadium was the part-time home of the

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. History Red Bull New Yor ...

of the United Soccer League Championship where they played only one home match. In 2016, a new FieldTurf surface was installed at the stadium. In 2017, the University opened the "Bubble at Baker", a heated seasonal

air-supported structure An air-supported (or air-inflated) structure is any building that derives its structural integrity from the use of internal pressurized air to inflate a pliable material (i.e. structural fabric) envelope, so that air is the main support of the st ...

. The Bubble encloses the soccer field and provides of winter practice space for Columbia's sports teams. The Bubble will be inflated each winter from December through March. The stadium is adjacent to Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium and the Campbell Sports Center.

Transformation to COVID field hospital

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, NewYork-Presbyterian /

Columbia University Irving Medical Center NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (NYP/CUIMC), also known as the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), is an academic medical center and the largest campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. It includes C ...

turned Robert K. Kraft Field and Columbia Soccer Stadium into a 288-bed field hospital. The field hospital is named for decorated US Navy SEAL Ryan F. Larkin (1987–2017), who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kate Kemplin, head nurse of the operation, described Larkin as "exactly the kind of person who would have set up a tent to treat patients, if he were alive today." The care center will be staffed primarily with former US military personnel in conjunction with NewYork-Presbyterian’s frontline staff.

References

External links

Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium
Columbia Lions soccer Inwood, Manhattan College soccer venues in the United States Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States Rugby union stadiums in New York City Soccer venues in New York City Sports venues in Manhattan Sports venues completed in 1985 1985 establishments in New York City {{NYC-sport-stub