Pennington Field is a
multi-purpose stadium
A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...
located in
Bedford, Texas
Bedford is a city located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, in the "Mid-Cities" area between Dallas and Fort Worth. It is a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. The population was 46,979 at the 2010 census. Bedford is part of the Hurst-Euless-B ...
. The 12,500-capacity facility is primarily used for local
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
football and
soccer teams of
Trinity High School and
L.D. Bell High School
Lawrence Dale Bell High School (generally known as L.D. Bell High School and also known as Hurst Bell) is an American high school located in the cities of Hurst and Bedford, Texas and part of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District. ...
. It is owned and operated by the
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District.
In addition to high school sports, Pennington Field was previously used by the
DFW Tornados of the
Premier Development League
USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...
from 2004-2010, th
American Eightman Football League (AEFL) and the
Red River Bowl for
NJCAA
The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...
.
Pennington Field does not have a track around the field, partly because the city of Bedford has an ordinance requiring all tracks to be open to the public. The result is that the seats are closer to the sidelines, creating a more intimate spectator experience.
History
The name "Pennington Field" was first given to an existing American football field near what was then L. D. Bell High School (now the site of Central Junior High). The field was named for Fred Pennington, the L.D. Bell High School football coach, after his accidental death in 1962.
The stadium opened in 1987 as a state-of-the-art venue that would host not only American football games, but soccer matches and special events as well. Pennington Field is still well known in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex as one of the most advanced and high-quality high school sports stadiums in the area. In June 2010, the stadium's playing surface was replaced with a new Hellas Matrix turf.
The
artificial turf
Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...
field is specially engineered to allow for proper drainage.
References
External links
Official Site (hebisd.edu)
{{Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District
Sports venues in Texas
American football venues in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
High school football venues in Texas
Soccer venues in Texas
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District
Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States
DFW Tornados
1987 establishments in Texas
Sports venues completed in 1987