The USF Track and Field Stadium (formerly known as the USF Soccer Stadium from 1978 to 1991 and the USF Soccer and Track Stadium from 1991 to 2010) is a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

that was built in 1978. The stadium is currently home to the men's and women's

teams from the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. It also hosted the school's men's and women's soccer programs from 1978 and 1995 respectively through the end of their 2010 seasons, when they moved to Corbett Stadium.

History

The 4,000-seat stadium was built in 1978 on the site of the USF Soccer Field, which from 1965–1978 was only a field and did not have any permanent bleachers. The stadium was renovated to add a running track in 1991, when USF's men's and women's track and field programs were founded. The configuration of the track was slightly altered in 1998. In 2008, the stadium was remodeled again. The renovations included new lighting, a new state-of-the-art Mondo track surface (the same type of surface that is used in the Olympics), a new electronic scoreboard, and some aesthetic features. In the fall of 2010, USF began construction on a new soccer stadium. The new Corbett Soccer Stadium hosted its first match on August 23, 2011, as the Bulls men's team defeated the crosstown rival University of Tampa Spartans 2–1 in the annual preseason

Rowdies Cup The Rowdies Cup is a traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the annual college soccer derby between the University of South Florida Bulls and the University of Tampa Spartans, two NCAA men's programs based in the city of Tampa, Florida. The riv ...

. The original stadium remains in use as a track and field facility and for other events. Another new track surface was installed in 2022 to replace the one installed in 2008. For the first time, the track was made to be USF's green and gold instead of red, which had been the color since the track was added to the facility in 1991.

Events hosted

The 4,000 capacity stadium has hosted several events throughout the years including Lamar Hunt US Open Cup matches, the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship final twice, the

C-USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern United States, Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Associ ...

soccer tournaments for men and women, the men's Big East soccer tournament, the C-USA track and field championships once, and the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

track and field championships twice. In 1984, when Tampa hosted

Super Bowl XVIII Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion 1983 Washington Redskins season, Washington Redskins and t ...

Tampa Stadium Tampa Stadium (nicknamed The Big Sombrero and briefly known as Houlihan's Stadium) was a large open-air stadium (maximum capacity about 74,000) located in Tampa, Florida, which opened in 1967 and was significantly expanded in 1974–75. The fac ...

, the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

practiced at the stadium. Concerned about the lack of privacy at the stadium, the Redskins purchased a green tarpaulin that was attached to the fence around the stadium. The Redskins donated the tarp to the university and it remained in use for many years. In the mid-1980s the stadium hosted preseason training for the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

of the United States Football League (USFL), including stars

Herschel Walker Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election ...

and Brian Sipe. The Generals' players stayed and dined at nearby Fontana Hall. The

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and 1991 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament semifinal and championship games were hosted at the stadium. The

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

played one 1990 playoff game there before using the facility full-time in 1991 and 1992 for home games while playing in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

. The Tampa Bay Cyclones of the

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

played most of their home games there in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

before moving to Jacksonville. USF's football spring game was played at the stadium from 1998 until 2011.

References

External links

* {{Tampa Bay Rowdies Soccer venues in Florida Sports venues in Tampa, Florida Track and Field Stadium, USF College soccer venues in the United States Sports venues completed in 1978 Tampa Bay Rowdies sports facilities 1978 establishments in Florida South Florida Bulls sports venues Athletics (track and field) venues in Florida