Location | 291 Catamount Road Cullowhee, NC 28723 |
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Coordinates | 35°18′17″N83°10′57″W / 35.30472°N 83.18250°W |
Owner | Western Carolina University |
Operator | Western Carolina University |
Capacity | 13,742 (2003–present) 12,000 (1974–2002) |
Surface | Desso Challenge Pro 2 turf |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1973 |
Opened | September 14, 1974 |
Construction cost | $1.66 million ($10.3 million in 2023 dollars [1] ) |
Architect | Moore and Robinson Architects |
Tenants | |
Western Carolina Catamounts (NCAA) (1974–present) |
Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium is a 13,742-seat football stadium in Cullowhee, North Carolina. [2] It opened in 1974 and is home to the Western Carolina University Catamounts football team. The field itself is named Bob Waters Field. The football facility is located on the south end of the WCU campus and is bordered by Cullowhee Creek on the west side; Jordan-Phillips Field House and WCU Weight Room on its north end, and the Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activity Center on the south end.
In 1971, the North Carolina General Assembly granted $1.66 million ($8.7 million in 2020 dollars) to the school for construction of a new football facility to replace Memorial Stadium, which was built in 1949. The first game at the new Whitmire Stadium was against Murray State on September 14, 1974 which was attended by 7,500 fans.
Turf: AstroTurf was first installed in 1974. In 2000, the turf was replaced with AstroPlay at a cost of $1.2 million. After the 2008 season, the artificial surface was replaced with the Desso Challenge Pro 2 turf. After the 2019 season, the turf was replaced again, this time with IronTurf. The project also included resurfacing the perimeter immediately around the field and the addition of a new synthetic turf sled and practice area referred to as the "Hog Pit."
Prior to the 2003 season, more facility improvements and upgrades to the stadium were completed. A $3.1 million addition featured a 4,000-seat West Side grandstand seating area that included concessions and restroom facilities as well as new, updated lighting. The weight room in the Jordan-Phillips Field House was expanded, nearly doubling its previous capacity which also added a hospitality patio that overlooks the stadium on the north end zone. It also includes additional team meeting space, computer lab and visiting team locker room. In 2018, the state-of-the-art David & Marie Brinkley Weight Lifting Facility was opened after a $400,000 facelift to the weight room for WCU's student-athletes.
During the off-season prior to the 2010 campaign, a new Daktronics scoreboard with video screen was installed in the south end zone of the facility. The state-of-the-art video screen measures 17 feet (5.2 m) tall by 32 feet (9.8 m) wide and includes a scoreboard with a matching score and time board adhered to the facade of the Jordan-Phillips Field House.
E. J. Whitmire, a Franklin native, was on the WCU Board of Trustees from 1949 to 1972 and was the driving force behind the large growth of the university in that time. He was inducted into the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.
In 1988, the field at Whitmire Stadium was dedicated to Coach Bob Waters. Dedicated for his work as WCU's most successful football coach and his role as athletic director for bringing the Catamounts from NAIA to NCAA Division I, Waters was posthumously inducted into the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.
Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium is an American football stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia, on the campus of West Virginia University. It opened in 1980 and serves as the home field for the West Virginia Mountaineers football team. On the day the stadium opened, at an opening ceremony, John Denver touched down on the field in a helicopter, performed the song "Take Me Home, Country Roads," and then immediately departed by helicopter. The facility is named for Milan Puskar, a Morgantown resident and founder of Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. who donated $20 million to the university in 2004. The playing surface retains the stadium's original name of Mountaineer Field, which was also the name of WVU's previous football stadium. The stadium’s design was inspired by Jack Trice Stadium, which opened a few years earlier at Iowa State University.
Fred C. Yager Stadium is a football stadium in Oxford, Ohio, United States. It is home to the Miami University RedHawks football team. It has a capacity of 30,087 spectators, and was built in 1983. It replaced Miami Field, which had been used since 1895 and was the home field for many of the coaches who had made the school famous. The stadium is named for Fred C. Yager, class of 1914, who was the lead benefactor in the project to build the stadium.
Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium, located in Austin, Texas, on the campus of the University of Texas, has been home to the Longhorns football team since 1924. The stadium has delivered a home field advantage with the team's home record through November 24, 2023 being 399–122–10 (.761). The official stadium seating capacity is 100,119, making the stadium the fourth largest in the Southeastern Conference, the seventh largest stadium in the United States, and the ninth largest stadium in the world.
Memorial Stadium is a stadium in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is primarily used for football, and has been the home of Indiana Hoosiers football since its opening in 1960. It is the 15th largest football stadium in the Big Ten Conference, with a capacity of 52,626. The field has a conventional north-south alignment, at an approximate elevation of 771 feet (235 m) above sea level.
Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium is an American football stadium in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. It serves as the home field for the Central Michigan University Chippewas. The stadium opened in 1972 and holds 35,127 spectators, making it the largest on-campus stadium in the Mid-American Conference. It is located on the southeast part of campus, along with most of the other athletic facilities. The playing surface is named Kramer/Deromedi Field after former coaches Roy Kramer and Herb Deromedi.
Waldo Stadium is a stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is primarily used for football, and has been the home of Western Michigan University Broncos football in rudimentary form since 1914, and as a complete stadium since 1939. It currently has a capacity of 36,361 spectators.
Arthur L. Williams Stadium is a 25,000-seat football stadium located on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA. The stadium was built in 1989 and plays host to Liberty Flames football, which is a part of the NCAA Division I - Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). A new field house has recently been constructed at the north end of the stadium. This new facility houses a new home locker room, coaches offices, meeting rooms and training facility as well as a 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m2) weight room. In the 2009 off season, Liberty University added a video scoreboard on the north end of the field. The video scoreboard measured 20 feet (6 m) tall and 36 feet (11 m) wide. This video board was replaced by a massive new high-definition video board in time for the 2018 football season.
Allen E. Paulson Stadium at Evans Family Field is a 25,000-seat on-campus football stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. It is home to the Georgia Southern Eagles football team and the focal point of Erk Russell Athletic Park.
The Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activity Center is a 7,826-seat multi-purpose arena in Cullowhee, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, and is home to the Western Carolina University Catamounts basketball and volleyball teams. It is also named "The Lair". It is a state owned facility and offers the largest seating capacity inside the Charlotte–Atlanta–Knoxville triangle.
Hardy M. Graham Stadium is a 7,500-seat multi-purpose stadium in Martin, Tennessee. It is home to the University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks football team. The facility opened in 1964. It is located north of Tennessee State Route 431 from the central campus area, adjacent to the Ned McWherter Agricultural Complex.
The Western Carolina Catamounts are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Western Carolina University. The Catamounts compete in the NCAA Division I as members of the Southern Conference. Western Carolina fields 16 varsity sports teams. The men's and women's teams are called the Catamounts.
Ronnie G. Childress Field at Hennon Stadium is the home of the Western Carolina Catamounts baseball team in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
Saluki Stadium is a stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. It is primarily utilized by the Southern Illinois Salukis football team.
Sea Foam Stadium is the football field on the campus of Concordia University, Saint Paul in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It opened in 2009, and seats about 3,500 spectators. The Stadium includes a football/soccer field with artificial turf, running track, scoreboard, lights, bleachers, parking, concession facilities, locker rooms, weight room, press box, outdoor plaza, and inflatable dome, somewhat resembling a marshmallow, during the winter months. As of August 2023, the stadium has a Daktronics videoboard and speaker on the north end-zone.
Harold Alfond Sports Stadium is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Orono, Maine. The stadium hosts Morse Field, and the Beckett Family Track and Field Complex. It is the home of the University of Maine Black Bears football team.
The 2013 Western Carolina Catamounts team represented Western Carolina University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach Mark Speir, the Catamounts compiled an overall record of 2–10 with a mark of 1–7 in conference play, tying for eighth place in the SoCon. Western Carolina played their home games at Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
The 2015 Western Carolina Catamounts team represented Western Carolina University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Mark Speir, the Catamounts compiled an overall record of 7–4 with a mark of 5–2 in conference play, placing third in the SoCon. Western Carolina played their home games at Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
The 2017 Western Carolina Catamounts team represented Western Carolina University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Mark Speir, the Catamounts compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing fourth in the SoCon. Western Carolina played their home games at Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
The 2002 Western Carolina Catamounts team represented Western Carolina University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) in the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Catamounts were led by first-year head coach head coach Kent Briggs and played their home games at Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Western Carolina compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, tying for fifth place in the SoCon.
The 2024 Western Carolina Catamounts football team represented Western Carolina University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Catamounts were coached by fourth-year head coach Kerwin Bell and played at Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee, North Carolina.