Best Stadiums

[dentonRYAN]

With the addition of many new stadiums the past couple of years, and plans for more to come, it makes me think about how each stadium is different and which ones are better than the others. What do yall think is the best stadium in texas for high school football (schools football program does not need to be great for the stadium to be nice).

I know I'm a little bias but I feel Standridge Stadium in carrollton is a very nice stadium. One of the biggest stadiums for high school football in texas, I personally have not seen one that matches what this stadium offers. What do yall think?

[dentonRYAN]

To make this interesting, how about we also state the worse stadium we have been to or saw.

[southlake thug]

keller is pretty damn bad...i'm sure there are way worse but that one just sticks out as very unenjoyable.

[drgnbkr]

keller is pretty damn bad...i'm sure there are way worse but that one just sticks out as very unenjoyable.

I agree...no room for visitors and they pushed the seating back what seems like 50 yards from the sideline

[CARROLL1]

BEST STADIUM- I LOVE THE GRAPEVINE COLLEYVILLE PIT STADIUM- AWESOME CONCEPT

WORST STADIUM- SOUTHLAKES BY FAR- WATCH THE ESPN GAME FOR EXAMPLE OR GO TO HOMECOMING- TURN YOUR HEAD AND COUGH BECAUSE EVERYONE IS ON YOUR NUTS! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE ONE OF THE BIGGEST POWERHOUSES IN TEXAS, MUCH LESS NATIONAL ATTENTION- YET WE GET A SARDINE CAN WITH MILLIONS OF DOLLARS!

[CoppellCowboy57]

Best Stadiums: SLC because it is so croweded, reminds me of Phillys old stadium, so loud, and proud, very nice stadium, very nice locker room....Gopher Warrior Bowl- Very nice stadium, Nice size visting locker room, the bowl is great its so small it makes the crowed just that much louder b4 a game...Cowboy Stadium (Buddy Ecoles Feild)- Okay i know im a little biased here saying it was my home for the past 4 years, but ONE of the first to put the new "Real Grass" turf in it, also has very nice home and away locker rooms, Home to the 2003 1A state championship and a few other play-off games.

Worst Stadium- HEB Stadium (Pennlton), now before you Euless, and LD Bell Schools get mad at me....(no sirously dont get mad im scared of you tongans, Pennelton Stadium is an old complex, and for the times ive been there somthing has gone wrong, (lights going out at homecoming for y'all) and the visting locker room is dirty like none other, Easy access to the field for fans, (remember when one of your team mates lost a helmet @ the home coming game) yeah some one from coppell stole it (not to say any names)...
Irving ISD- Very out dated tried to update, but there locker room is about the size of a JV locker room, its tiny, Irving ISD has alot more work they need to do..

[jtk1519]

Of course I am biased here, but I think the three stadiums of the Little Southwest Conference are the best. Three stadiums with a combined seating capacity of over 51,000. I dont know if any other district can say something like that.

Abilene's Shotwell Stadium (Built in the '50s, but undergoing a few million dollars worth of rennovations that will add new dressing rooms, press box, concession and restrooms, turf, scoreboards, etc.)
http://www.geocities.com/coopercougars/shotwell.html

Midland's Grande Communication's Stadium (The newest of the bunch)
http://www.ci.midland.tx.us/SSC/sscfbg.htm

Odessa's Ratliff Stadium (The biggest of the bunch)
http://www.kylgrafx.com/ratliff.html

[Texas Hammer]

Midland is the best stadium I've seen. Burkburnett is the worst for the size of the school.

[southlake thug]

Best Stadiums: SLC because it is so croweded, reminds me of Phillys old stadium, so loud, and proud, very nice stadium, very nice locker room....


that is an awful comparison.. the vet is nothing even remotely close to dragon stadium. veterans staduim is widely known as one of the worst facilities in all of sports.. and the locker room at the vet was reportedly been infested with rats

[farmerfan]

The best stadium i have seen a game in is the new CH Collins complex in Denton, it seats around 12,500 and not a bad seat in the house. The stands are close to the field, the field house/coaches offices is a state of the art building and the score board is huge, the only draw back to it is the traffic congestion along loop 288, only one way in and one way out, the city is working on fixing that, and when they do there will not be a negative thing about the stadium

Another Jewel is John Clark stadium in Plano, named after one of the greatest men to ever coach the game of Football, they did his name proud by building one of the nicest stadiums in Texas. It is big, seats 15,000, has no track and is just a overall great stadium to watch a game at.

The worst in my mind is Goldsmith in Lewisville, it seats 10,000 and has horrible traffic along main street, it is aluminum seating, with a track around the field and still uses astro-turf, not a very enjoyable experience as far as watching a game goes.

[ktCarl]

In Houston area North Shore has a nice stadium as does Klein districts Pridgeon (SP?).
Strake Jesuit's on my bad list because it's a 2A sized stadium who's visitor stands is only going to be able to hold Katy's band and Drill Team. They need to let Strake play in Alief's Crump stadium until Strake gets the funds to upgrade their facilities to 5A status.

[jtk1519]

The worst stadium that I have been to (I'm not counting old Midland Memorial since it is no longer used) would have to be Franklin Stadium in Dallas. Abilene Cooper scrimmaged Dallas Hillcrest there last year and it wasnt much to look at. Access isnt bad as it is right next to the Central Expressway on Walnut Hill, but parking was pretty limited. I dont know how many big games they have there, but I would imagine traffic can be kind of bad.

Another one I really love (though I havent actually seen a game there) is Highlander Stadium in Highland Park. I love how it is packed into a neighborhood right behind the high school. The seating is steep and you are right on top of the action. However, there is no parking anywhere. I think you can park at the new parking garage next to the high school, but that's it. It's like going to a game at Fenway Park... beautiful old stadium in a great neighborhood with no parking in sight.

[htownfootball]

the katy at strake jesuit game should be interesting to see how everyone fits. i assume the whole town of katy, texas north of I-10 (which is where I believe KHS gets their students from and south is KTaylor's). but honeslty if the inaugural game for crusader stadium versus st thomas sold out completely and cinco ranch close to sold out i can see the katy tiger game being ridiculous. there will be katy tiger bumper stickers on cars all throughout bellaire blvd (which by the way could be dangerous so be warned or park somewhere safer). the sister school, st agnes academy, next door can be used for parking and also their lawns can be used for parking just as was done during the jesuit- st thomas game.
but plain and simple, alot of fans from katy will not be able to make it just cause of the stadium's size. i know it screws alot of fans over but thats just the way it is. someone from katy should contact the school and ask what the deal is or what they're going to do to accomodate and post it on this message board.
a tiny preview that might not even be comparable could be the season opener of baytown lee at strake jesuit game. la marque opens their season with a scrimmage the 19th at crusader stadium but most fans will not be making that game.
I hope strake brings in extra bleachers or something cause this aint rhodes...but if not i advise to get there close to 6. the st thomas game was squared away by 6:45.

[Big Daddy Cool]

Hate to take the biased route, but I just can't help it. The best stadium I have been to would be GPISD Stadium. Now I realize its nothing original rather a copy of the Waco stadium with a few changes here and there. Though just judging by the way everyone wants to play there come playoff time tells you its a good stadium. As for the worst stadium I have been to. Now I'm not going to pick on the districts you seriously don't have the money to build much more than what they have. So the award for worst I have been to would go to Pearlands "The Rig". The home side stands are like three times that of the visitors side. And the visitor parking is much more than about fifty yards or so. So for a school that travels well like a North Shore or Katy it can be a nightmare.

[CoppellCowboy57]

that is an awful comparison.. the vet is nothing even remotely close to dragon stadium. veterans staduim is widely known as one of the worst facilities in all of sports.. and the locker room at the vet was reportedly been infested with rats

I ment how close the fans are to the feild and how loud it gets

[farmerfan]

The vet was not close to the field either, it was a multipurpose stadium with plenty of room between the sidelines and the fans.

[jtk1519]

The Vet could get loud though. It was like a giant toilet bowl... all the sound got funneled down to the field.

[businesstron]

Best= Panther Stadium!!!! in Duncanville I'm kind of a homer on that.
I liked Standridge Stadium and John Clark up there in Plano though top notch. UTA's stadium is a nice place to play to.

Worst= Craven's Field(or where Arlington Martin played their home game that stadium was like a Junior High school.

Irving ISD...fun

[GTown02]

My top stadiums I have seen games played at are:

#1 Memorial Stadium in Mesquite
#2 E.H. Hanby stadium also in Mesquite

[southlake thug]

yeah.. i wouldn't even call the vet a field--more of a concrete parking lot which baseball and football games were played


it has to be one of the worst playing surfaces in all sports

[pack0808]

i could only imagine what the stadium would look like if we combined lufkin, tyler, and longview. wow!! it would be an unbelievable stadium!! you have to remember several areas have 1 stadium they share. aka conroe aka mesquite aka aldine etc etc

[SLCDad]

I have two unusual picks to add:

Birdville Stadium is great. Seats are very close to the field. Jumbotron scoreboard. Seats 12,500 and since very few attend from the home teams there are always plenty of seats.

The new Pizza Hut Park Frisco athletic complex is also outstanding. Built in 2005 it seats 20,000. It was built for soccer and is shared with the FC Dallas MLS soccer team. It has ALL of the ammenities. Off the chart for a high school stadium.

Worst stadium is Keller. Miserable place. Especially for the visiting team.

[PurdueSully]

Midland has to be the best ive ever played at. Havent seen many nicer than that.

[pooch]

Mesquite's Memorial is nice play to see a game (no track, and all of the updated stuff i.e. FieldTurf, jumbotron)

Haven't been to Waco's, but hear and seen pictures online. Looks nice.

The stadium in Conroe should be torn down.

I've been to PNG's before, it was pretty cool.

[bhs06]

CoppellCowboy57: Maybe it is just bias because I have played home games in Pennington(NOT PENNLTON or whatever you called it) Field for the past 5 years and this will be my last, but I don't think Pennington Field is as bad as you make it out to be. The stadium is 40 years old so give it a break. It is actually nice for being that old, it explains the cement structure and crappy locker rooms. The scoreboard is also outdated but does its job. I was at that Trinity-Tyler Lee game where the lights went out and I don't know what happened there. But for its age it is a nice stadium and I will leave it at that.

I will give a letter grade to each stadium I have played/been to:

Birdville Fine Arts Complex: B, its a cheap remake of Pennington field, only with a bigger visitors side and color screen on the scoreboard that can't be seen from the street. At least you can see Pennington's scoreboard from Central Drive.

Boswell Stadium: A, Such a nice field for such a crappy team.

Cowboy Stadium(Buddy Echols Field): A+, we played there twice the past year, unfortunatley both times the stands were basically empty, first time was a Saturday afternoon against Irving, the school is like 20 miles away from both schools. Second time was against Coppell in the rain.

Cravens Field: F, short wooden bleachers makes it look like a middle school field on steroids

Flower Mound Jaguar Stadium: C-, It's like Cravens field, only with the stands aluminum and squeezed together to make them seem like they only strech from the 20 yard line to 20 yard line. But the seats go so high it can probably hit a cruising airplane if they rose any higher.

Gopher-Warrior Bowl: A, I really love the bowl design and the stadium looks just like Ameriquest Field, because it was designed by the same people I believe. Scoreboard is also nice and the tunnel to get on the field is cool.

Irving Schools Stadium: D, this place is in a Ghetto(seriously) and is basically a newer version of Cravens Field

Keller ISD Fine Arts Complex: D-, only thing keeping this from an F was that blue track around the stadium that still makes me laugh. But the cheap aluminum bleachers seriously raise 50 feet off the ground and are 50 feet from the sidelines. Too far and too high.

Mansfield R.L. Anderson Stadium: F, Crap. Worse than Cravens Field.

Maverick Stadium: B, its pretty big but hardly any of the seats get filled during the games.

Mesquite Memorial Stadium: C, One word: MAMMOTH. The size makes it look all disorted.

Mustang-Panther Stadium: A-, bowl design is nice and its more of a retro stadium than anything else. Cement Visitors seats give this a minus added on.

Texas Stadium: A, for nostalgia, otherwise its crappy and has the worst concessions ever. Seeing 20,000 people in there is nice.

[SLCDad]

Birdville Fine Arts Complex: B, its a cheap remake of Pennington field, only with a bigger visitors side and color screen on the scoreboard that can't be seen from the street. At least you can see Pennington's scoreboard from Central Drive.

I've been to both Birdville and Pennington many times. I'll take Birdville hands down. They are the same size but Birdville has all of the amenities. The three-camera instant replays on the jumbotron are great. The seats are also much better.

Pennington has a great tradition but it's older.

[bhs06]

Birdville was the first stadium around that we played at to use the Astro-Play turf and it all amazed us when we first played on it.

[WestlandTiger'95]

By far, the best stadium in texas PERIOD will be the new Cy Fair Berry athletic complex. It is a basketball/ football facility much like the one at Ok state but for a high school... I imagine the cost of the facility in around 100 million. It will rival most Div I universities. It is alomast near completion but wont be ready for the regular season of football this year but maybe a state playoff game.

check it out (http://www.cfisd.net/bond/esc.htm)

[dragonsdaddy]

my favorites venues are from a specked tater prospective only. in no certain order
coppell(except for the ingress/egress situation)
bisd
waco isd(not enough seating on visitor side)
baylor stadium
ratliff
w-falls stadium
mustang-panther stadium(except for parking)
dragon stadium(except for parking and small visitor side)
alamo dome
rice stadium(except for age)
abilene's stadium

my least favorites
waxahachie(tiny visitor side)
keller isd(ditto)
northwest isd(tiny and poor access)
irving isd(better than it was with recent upgrades)
texas stadium(least fan friendly venue)
astrodome(not a good seat in the house, and turf looks and feels horrific)
cotton bowl(overall voted the least likely to survive the implosion-good riddance)


my most likely to love
new denton stadium
new nwisd stadium
jerry world
ford stadium@smu-(except for traffic)
any six-man venue

[GTown02]

I was at the Tyler Lee vs Trinity game last year as well... I thought it was hilarious when the power went off...

[ktchamp97]

By far, the best stadium in texas PERIOD will be the new Cy Fair Berry athletic complex. It is a basketball/ football facility much like the one at Ok state but for a high school... I imagine the cost of the facility in around 100 million. It will rival most Div I universities. It is alomast near completion but wont be ready for the regular season of football this year but maybe a state playoff game.

check it out (http://www.cfisd.net/bond/esc.htm)

That thing is sick! Me and KT2000 drove by there on the way up to College Station...simply WOW!

My top 3:
Grande (Haven't seen a game there yet, but I pass it twice a day)
GPISD
The Alamodome

Unfortunately, I haven't been to any Dallas area stadiums besides the dump that is Texas Stadium...sorry, it is what it is. There are some great stadiums in the Metroplex that I hope to visit someday. Actually, the same could be said for the rest of the state...I have some traveling to do.

I'll only mention one of my least favorite places to watch a game (well, besides Texas Stadium) and that is Humble's Turner Stadium. If you've ever stayed for the duration of a game and tried to leave the visitor's parking lot, I'm sure you'll understand.

[farmerfan]

DD
You will love the new CH Collins complex in Denton, i dont know how difficult it will be to get tickets to that game for me, but if I can, I would love to meet some of yall, that stadium is only a few miles from my apt, it is one of the nicest stadiums for any level in America.

[garlandredraider]

Best- I like mesquite memorial and the midland complex. I also tend to like Hanby- though parking sucks. I remember the old Hanby... wow. Thank goodness they fixed that stadium up after Mesquite won state.

Worst-Forrester Field (DISD teams) wow, its a mess.
Also Desoto's field. Sucks when the band and drill team has to sit on wood bleachers away from the regular stands because there is not enough room for the visitors.
I am not a fan of Highland Parks stadium. Lets make the visitor side as small as we can so we can build more stuff for us.

[rantanamo]

DeSoto is actually renovating their stadium and it will probably be the best looking stadium in the area. Jesse H. Owens in Dallas is also very surprising. Compared to the renderings, it is a much better looking venue in real life. Definitely could become a big playoff site for southern Dallas County.

[grayowl60]

My top stadiums I have seen games played at are:

#1 Memorial Stadium in Mesquite
#2 E.H. Hanby stadium also in Mesquite
They both have new turf now, and should get some playoff games. Memorial seats 20k, has the great scoreboard, and supper location just off LBJ. But wait, HB Johnson now has new turf. Lots of good stadiums on the east side.

[pooch]

They both have new turf now, and should get some playoff games. Memorial seats 20k, has the great scoreboard, and supper location just off LBJ. But wait, HB Johnson now has new turf. Lots of good stadiums on the east side.


True. Now MISD will get some playoff games like they used to. (I Hope)