"The Duck" | |
Location | 1600 East University Drive Auburn, Alabama, USA |
---|---|
Coordinates | 32°36′37″N85°26′49″W / 32.61028°N 85.44694°W |
Owner | Auburn City Schools |
Operator | Auburn City Schools |
Capacity | 8,310 |
Record attendance | 10,000+ (November 27, 2009) |
Surface | Synthetic turf |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1968 |
Opened | October 25, 1968 |
Construction cost | $1.1 million |
Tenants | |
Auburn High School Tigers (AHSAA) (1968-Present) J. F. Drake High School Wildcats (AHSAA) (1968-1969) |
Duck Samford Stadium is a stadium in Auburn, Alabama. It is primarily used for American football and soccer, and is the home field of the Auburn High School Tigers. Duck Samford Stadium was constructed in 1968, and seats 8,310 spectators. [1] The field is named after James Drake "Duck" Samford, a former Auburn University football player and longtime supporter of youth athletics in Auburn who donated the land for the facility. [2]
Plans for constructing a stadium to replace Felton Little Park—which had served as Auburn High School's home field since 1949—on the site now occupied by Duck Samford Stadium began in 1964. [3] On March 23, 1965, James "Duck" Samford donated the 40.2-acre (163,000 m2) site to the City of Auburn. [4] In May 1967, the Auburn City Schools agreed to a ten-year lease of the proposed stadium, which the city of Auburn constructed the following year for $1.1 million. [5] The stadium opened on October 25, 1968, with an Auburn High School loss to Lanett High School, 14-13; the first home win at the venue came three weeks later against arch-rival Opelika High School, 41-0. The original seating consisted of what is today the home (east) stands, and seated 3,986. [6]
In 1974, a fieldhouse was constructed behind the north endzone. [7] The stadium was expanded in 1984 to include a visitors' seating section on the west side of the stadium, which increased capacity to 6,000. [8] A further expansion in 1993 increased the west side stands to increase the stadium's capacity to 7,120. The stadium underwent a $2.0 million renovation in 2004, with the east side stands completely replaced. [9] At the same time, the existing turf was replaced with TifSport Certified Bermuda grass, the same playing surface as at the University of Texas's Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium and the Washington Redskins' FedExField. [10]
In 2005, ownership of Duck Samford was transferred from the City of Auburn to the Auburn City School District. The 35-year-old original fieldhouse was torn down and replaced by the Travis L. Rabren Fieldhouse in 2009. [11] In 2010, a $705,000 expansion resulted in the construction of new restrooms, replacement of the scoreboard, and additional seating to bring the stadium's capacity to 8,310. [12] During the summer of 2016, the stadium’s grass surface was replaced with artificial turf, part of a $629,000 project funded by Auburn City Schools to enhance the usability of the field. [13]
Duck Samford Stadium is part of the Duck Samford Sports Complex, which also includes ten baseball fields, a walking trail, and two multi-use fields. The complex hosted the 2005 Dixie Youth World Series. [14]
Through 2011, the Auburn High School football team has a 153-95-1 record at Duck Samford Stadium, a winning percentage of 0.616. The stadium has hosted sixteen Alabama High School Athletic Association football playoff games; in those matches, Auburn High School has an 8-8 record. [15]
Duck Samford Stadium is the site of the City of Auburn's Fourth of July fireworks display. [16]
Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama. The population was 76,143 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. The Auburn-Opelika, AL MSA with a 2020 population of 193,773, along with the Columbus, GA-AL MSA and Tuskegee, Alabama, comprises the greater Columbus-Auburn-Opelika, GA-AL CSA, a region home to 563,967 residents as of 2020.
Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans.
Cramton Bowl is a 25,000-seat stadium located in Montgomery, Alabama. Cramton Bowl opened in 1922 as a baseball stadium and has been home to Major League Baseball spring training and to minor league baseball. Today, however, its primary use is for American football.
Jordan-Hare Stadium is an American football stadium in Auburn, Alabama on the campus Auburn University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Auburn Tigers football team. The stadium is named for Ralph "Shug" Jordan, who owns the most wins in school history, and Cliff Hare, a member of Auburn's first football team as well as Dean of the Auburn University School of Chemistry and President of the Southern Conference. On November 19, 2005, the playing field at the stadium was named in honor of former Auburn coach and athletic director Pat Dye. The venue is now known as Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The stadium reached its current seating capacity of 88,043 with the 2023 expansion and is the 10th largest stadium in the NCAA and the 20th largest in the world. For years, it has been a fixture on lists of best gameday atmospheres and most intimidating places to play.
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.
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 17, 2018 being 375–117–10 (.764). The official stadium seating capacity is 100,119, making the stadium the largest in the Big 12 Conference, the seventh largest stadium in the United States, and the ninth largest stadium in the world.
Bill Snyder Family Stadium is a stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. It is used for American football, and is the home field of the Kansas State University Wildcats football team. It is named after the family of head coach Bill Snyder. Over the past 31 seasons – from 1990 through the 2022 season – K-State is 169–51–1 (.767) at home.
Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium is an outdoor sports stadium in Columbia, Missouri, United States, on the campus of the University of Missouri. It is primarily used for football and serves as the home field for the Missouri Tigers' program. It is the third-largest sports facility by seating capacity in the state of Missouri, behind The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis and Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. In 1972, Memorial Stadium's playing surface was named Faurot Field in honor of longtime coach Don Faurot.
Auburn High School is a public high school in Auburn, Alabama. It is the only high school in the Auburn City School District. Auburn High offers technical, academic, and International Baccalaureate programs, as well as joint enrollment with Southern Union State Community College and Auburn University. Auburn High School is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium is a 24,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama. It opened in 1947 and is home to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team. It was also home to the Jacksonville High School Golden Eagles football team until 2004, when they moved to a new stadium on the high school campus. It also served as home to Jacksonville Christian Academy's football team from 2005 until September 27, 2007, when JCA opened an on campus football field.
The Auburn City School District or Auburn City Schools is the school district of Auburn, Alabama, United States. The superintendent is Dr. Cristen Herring.
Samford, as a person, may refer to:
Auburn University Regional Airport with the Robert G. Pitts Field is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) east of the central business district of Auburn, a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. The airport is owned by Auburn University and was formerly known as Auburn–Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.
Milton Frank Stadium is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Huntsville, Alabama. It was used for Alabama A&M football games before the creation of Louis Crews Stadium. It is currently used mainly for Huntsville City Schools high school and middle school football and soccer games and track meets. Construction began in 1949 and the stadium was opened in 1962 as Huntsville Stadium. It was soon renamed Milton Frank Stadium in honor of Milton Frank, the long-time football coach and athletic director of Huntsville High School and chairman of Huntsville City School Board of Education. In the 1990s, the grass field was replaced with artificial turf and a new track replaced the original asphalt track.
Provost Umphrey Stadium is a 16,000-seat multi-purpose stadium located on the campus of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. The stadium, home to the Lamar Cardinals football team, is located next to the Montagne Center. While primarily used for football, Provost Umphrey Stadium is also a concert venue with seating up to 20,000 for concerts. The stadium was completely renovated in 2009 and is designed to allow for a future expansion to 28,000.
Opelika High School is located in Opelika, Lee County, Alabama and was originally built in 1972. Opelika High School, of the Opelika City Schools, serves students in grades 9–12. The principal is Kelli Fischer. The school's assistant principals are Courtney Bass, Allison Gregory and Kelvin Philpott.
William J. Samford Hall is a structure on the campus of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. It is an icon of Auburn University and houses the school's administration. The building is named for William J. Samford, the Governor of Alabama from 1900 to 1901.
The Auburn High School Tigers are the athletic teams which represent Auburn High School in Auburn, Alabama. Auburn High School's athletics program fields twenty-one varsity teams as a member of the large-school classification (7A) of the Alabama High School Athletic Association. The Tigers' school colors are royal blue and white.
Felton Little Park is a municipal park in Auburn, Alabama, United States. Felton Little Park is the oldest park in Auburn. From 1949 until 1968, the park was the home stadium of the Auburn High School Tigers football team, and from 1949 through 1967, the Auburn High School baseball team. Today, Felton Little Park has three softball fields for youth leagues. The park is named for Felton Little, an Auburn city councilman who donated the land for the park.
The Samford Bulldogs are the 17 varsity teams that represent Samford University in NCAA Division I athletics. The men's basketball team made its first NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000. They were led by Reed Rawlings, Marc Salyers, and Chris Weaver. The women's basketball team made its initial NCAA tournament appearance in the 2011 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament and made its second consecutive appearance in the tournament in 2012. The baseball team made its first NCAA tournament appearance in the 2012 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, reaching the finals of the Tallahassee Regional. Additionally, the softball team made its first NCAA Tournament Appearance in 2016. For the first time in history, the Lady Bulldogs won the regular-season championship as well as the Tournament Championship to cap off a record high of 40 wins on the season. The school is a member of the Southern Conference in Division I of the NCAA, after moving from the Ohio Valley Conference in 2008. The Samford Athletics staff is headed by athletic director Martin Newton, whose appointment was announced on March 9, 2011.