Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park

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Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park
Lamson Park Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park (Lafayette, Louisiana).jpg
Lamson Park
Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park
Former names
  • Lady Cajuns Park (1985-2003)
  • Ragin Cajuns Park (2003-2006)
  • Lamson Park (2006-2019)
Location235 Cajundome Blvd
Lafayette, Louisiana 70506 United States
Coordinates 30°12′49″N92°02′13″W / 30.213474°N 92.036964°W / 30.213474; -92.036964
Owner University of Louisiana at Lafayette
OperatorUL Athletics Department
Capacity 2,790
Record attendance3,107
Field sizeL - 200, C - 220, R - 200 [1]
Acreage 2.97
SurfaceArtificial turf
Construction
Broke ground1984
Opened1985
Renovated1992, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2006, 2009-11, 2016, 2019, 2020
Tenants
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball (NCAA)

Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park is a ballpark located on the South Campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Lafayette, Louisiana. Originally built in 1985, Lamson Park is the home of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Ragin' Cajuns softball program. When Lady Cajun's Park was built, the Softball program had no budget, no money, and no stable foundation. Now, Cajuns softball is known as a national powerhouse, year after year, and Lamson Park continues to grow. [2]

Contents

The stadium went through a $2.1 million renovation from 2009 to 2011, which included a mostly-covered grandstand between dugouts, three private luxury suites, and a 50-seat Stadium Club. Additional seating was also added beyond the outfield fence, bringing it to its current capacity of 2,790. [3]

The 2011 renovations also included a new and larger press box with three broadcast booths, a larger and more functional locker room, a technology-driven meeting room and a new scoreboard in right field that debuted in 2010. The video board from 2010 was replaced in February 2020, with a new 30-ft screen. [4]

Finally, a state-of-the-art indoor hitting facility was completed in 2016. The structure is located in the left field corner and includes a total of 12 cages, which are mounted on zip lines so that they can be retracted to open up the facility for infield drills and/or pitching instruction.

In 2019, a new artificial field turf was installed by GeoSurfaces at the commencement of the season.

Lamson Park routinely ranks in the top-ten nationally both in attendance, as well as atmosphere. [5] [6] A new attendance record was established on February 15, 2020, with 3,107 in attendance to watch UL defeat LSU by a score of 2–1. The game also marked the 100th win for Coach Glasco. [7]

In terms of official seating capacity, Lamson Park is the largest softball stadium in the Sun Belt Conference and in Louisiana. In terms of overall stadium size and area it is smaller than others in Louisiana. [8]

Names

Ms. Girouard founded the program in 1981, going on to secure a 759–250 record during her tenure as head coach, which lasted from 1982 to 2000. She also had 19 consecutive winning seasons. [9]

Events hosted

Since its inception, Lamson Park has hosted numerous major postseason events, including:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns</span> University of Louisiana-Lafayette athletic teams

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns are the athletic teams of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The college has been competing athletically since 1901. The Ragin' Cajuns compete in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams.

Yvette Marie Girouard is an American retired softball coach who was head coach at Southwestern Louisiana from 1981 to 2000 and LSU from 2001 to 2011.

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball team represents the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the Sun Belt Conference. The Ragin' Cajuns were most recently led by head coach Gerry Glasco. Yvette Girouard was head coach from 1981 to 2000 leading the Ragin' Cajuns to 10 NCAA tournaments and three Women's College World Series appearances. The team plays its home games at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park located on the university's athletic campus.

The 2017 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana, and competed in the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by seventh-year head coach Mark Hudspeth. They finished the season 5–7, 4–4 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.

The 2019 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2019 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park and were led by second-year head coach Gerry Glasco.

The 2016 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2016 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Lamson Park and were led by sixteenth year head coach Michael Lotief.

The 2015 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2015 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Lamson Park and were led by fifteenth year head coach Michael Lotief.

The 2014 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2014 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Lamson Park and were led by fourteenth year head coach Michael Lotief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team</span> American college softball season

The 2012 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2012 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Lamson Park and were led by twelfth and thirteen year husband and wife head coach duo Michael and Stefni Lotief, respectively. This was the final season that the Cajuns had two head coaches as after the season, Stefni Lotief decided to resign to focus on family and personal matters.

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The Sun Belt Conference softball tournament is the conference championship tournament in softball for the Sun Belt Conference. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I softball tournament. The 2023 host of the tournament is the University of Louisiana at Lafayette at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park, the largest softball facility in the conference.

The 2017 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2017 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns play their home games at Lamson Park. This would also be the last season that a Lotief would be the head coach of the Ragin' Cajuns. This came after the university fired Lotief, both Malveauxs, Director of Operations Kelsey Vincent, and one manager, Sara Corbello on November 1, 2017 due to allegations of physically and verbal abuse to his players and for laying a finger on the university's strength coach. The Ragin' Cajuns softball players strongly disagreed with his firing. Several even transferred schools with most making a pack that "if they couldn't play with Lotief, they wouldn't play at all." However, most of the team remained and competed in 2018. Nearly a year later, Lotief filed a lawsuit against the university claiming that they fired him over retaliation from Lotief claiming that the university violated NCAA Title IX laws which state that women's sports must be treated the same as their male counterpart. In the lawsuit, Lotief called University President Joseph E. Savoie, Athletic Director Bryan Maggard, and Assistant Athletic Director Dr. Jessica Leger as the defendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team</span> Softball team season

The 2011 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2011 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Lamson Park and were led by eleventh and twelfth year husband and wife head coach duo Michael and Stenfi Lotief, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team</span> American college softball season

The 2010 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2010 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Lamson Park and were led by tenth and eleventh year husband and wife head coaching duo Michael and Stefni Lotief, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team</span> American college softball season

The 2009 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2009 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Lamson Park and were led by ninth and tenth year husband and wife head coaching duo Michael and Stefni Lotief, respectively.

The 2020 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2020 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park. The Cajuns were led by third year head coach Gerry Glasco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team</span> American college softball season

The 2008 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2008 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Lamson Park and were led by eighth and ninth year husband and wife head coaching duo Michael and Stefni Lotief, respectively.

The 2021 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park and were led by fourth-year head coach Gerry Glasco. They were members of the Sun Belt Conference.

The 2022 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2022 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park and were led by fifth-year head coach Gerry Glasco. They were members of the Sun Belt Conference.

The 2023 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2023 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park and were led by sixth-year head coach Gerry Glasco. They were members of the Sun Belt Conference.

The 2024 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns softball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2024 NCAA Division I softball season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park and were led by seventh-year head coach Gerry Glasco. They were members of the Sun Belt Conference.

References

  1. ↑ "Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park - Facilities".
  2. ↑ Williams, C. J. "Thirty-eight years in the making: Louisiana softball field named after its architect". The Vermilion.
  3. ↑ "Lamson Park". Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns.
  4. ↑ "New Videoboard Set to Debut at Lamson Park".
  5. ↑ Peloquin, Steve (26 February 2019). "UL Softball Ranks In Top 5 In Attendance". SPORTS RADIO ESPN 1420.
  6. ↑ "The 15 best places to watch college softball, according to the fans | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com.
  7. ↑ "UL Softball Defeats Samford & LSU". 16 February 2020.
  8. ↑ "Softball attendance records" (PDF). fs.ncaa.org.
  9. ↑ "Iconic Ragin' Cajuns softball head coach earns 'absolute ultimate' honor". University of Louisiana at Lafayette. March 18, 2019.
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