It's time for a new Softball stadium...

[Shockerman]

So our former coach is taking the Florida Gators back to the WCWS. Our current coach is every bit as good and will be gone soon unless we make a greater commitment to Softball. UCF hosted a regional this year and talent wise, we are close to being right there. It's time to start looking at building a new Softball stadium that is regional host worthy. We have got to find a way to keep coach B around and facility improvements commitments are the first step.

[shoxlax]

All it takes is a vision and private fund raising like the baseball team has done. It won’t be done with public dollars although they may come up with a few to add.

What is the Central Florida stadium specs?

[SubGod22]

So our former coach is taking the Florida Gators back to the WCWS. Our current coach is every bit as good and will be gone soon unless we make a greater commitment to Softball. UCF hosted a regional this year and talent wise, we are close to being right there. It's time to start looking at building a new Softball stadium that is regional host worthy. We have got to find a way to keep coach B around and facility improvements commitments are the first step.

I'm not sure that we need a new facility, but I do believe that upgrades to what we have could be made.

I don't know what they may actually need, outside of a larger capacity off the top of my head. I believe they have access to the indoor facility over at Eck, which doesn't hurt. I believe that their current batting cages are outdoors along the 3rd base side. I'd be curious to see how close those are to the stadium and wonder if there would be a way to enclose them and add seating on that side. I really need a better feel for the layout over there.

Do they need an improved dugout/locker room facility? I believe the field itself has been reworked and is quite good. I honestly haven't heard much from coach or players about what may be lacking at Wilkins and would be curious to know what they or others think.

I wouldn't think expanding capacity would be crazy expensive. Personally, for a venue like Wilkins, I'd rather have excess seating than not enough. I don't think that's going to kill atmosphere and I'd rather not have to turn people away for the big games that draw more interest. Sure, it's cool to say you've had a sellout, but when that is 800 people I'm not sure it's really a selling point. Especially when you could hit 1k plus depending on the opponent. And as they continue to improve, I see regular attendance growing anyway and we should be prepared to accommodate that and more.

[flyingMoose]

Okay, you asked for it. Or didn't.

UCF: 600 capacity first built in 2006
USF: 1600 - 2011
Houston: 1200 - 2002
Tulsa: 800 - 2002, 2012
ECU: 1000 - 2011
Memphis: 275 - 2007

Most of the stadia have had improvements since the initial build. Often the initial build was part of improvements to a number of athletic facilities, part of a school-wide program.

Wilkiins Stadium was built with the money available on a site that was available. It is surely the worst complex in the AAC. I suspect you can count the pressboxes on ground level in D-I on one hand. Dugouts, hitting cages, pitching - all of that has to be substandard. The seating arrangement is bizarre - again, the piece of land they had to work with.

The offices and locker room are probably adequate, but the umpires changing room is definitely not. It was designed when two-person crews were used, and it was barely adequate then.

The new stadium needs to be built adjacent to Eck with access to the indoor facility. Doing anything else is a waste of time and money - you are just playing games to make yourself feel good. Kemnitz (is he still staff?) needs to get on the ball - fund-raising for athletics is his job(?).


Following are the stadium links for the schools new to the AAC.

Thinking of softball only, UCF and Houston are leaving. Florida Atlantic, UNC-Charlotte, North Texas, UT-San Antonio, and UA-Birmingham are the schools arriving with a softball programm.

[NCAABound]

All it takes is a vision and private fund raising like the baseball team has done. It won’t be done with public dollars although they may come up with a few to add.

What is the Central Florida stadium specs?

Since its groundbreaking on March 14, 2006, the UCF Softball Complex is where the Knights call home. The state-of-the-art facility speaks volumes for how far the program has come under the direction of head coach Cindy Ball-Malone and where it is headed. The 600-seat capacity stadium is one of the finest in the American Athletic Conference and on the national scene.

The entire facility received massive upgrades in the fall of 2021, giving “The Plex” a fresh look. The upgrades included a brand new locker room, padded outfield walls and backstop, new foul poles, a fresh coat of paint on the exterior of all buildings, and updated branding in team offices.

The field is professionally manicured by the UCF facilities and operations staff and includes a covered batting pavilion, roomy dugouts, home and visitor bullpens and an outfield fence lined with trees.

UCF student-athletes have access to everything they need to prepare for gameday at the UCF Softball Complex. The Knights have a spacious locker room, a lounge area complete with a television, couches and chairs, an equipment room and their own training room complete with a top-notch athletic training staff.

Along with having comfortable offices for each coach, the UCF Softball Complex also has a conference room, a video room and locker rooms for both the coaching staff and for umpires. The press box at the stadium has enough room for home and visitor radio broadcasts.

On game days, fans have access to a ticket booth, concession stand and gift shop, while also being able to participate in multiple promotions and events throughout the season.

[shoxlax]

I kind of like Liberty’s Stadium. Nice but not freakish like Oregon.

[Stickboy46]

I'm not sure that we need a new facility, but I do believe that upgrades to what we have could be made.

I don't know what they may actually need, outside of a larger capacity off the top of my head. I believe they have access to the indoor facility over at Eck, which doesn't hurt. I believe that their current batting cages are outdoors along the 3rd base side. I'd be curious to see how close those are to the stadium and wonder if there would be a way to enclose them and add seating on that side. I really need a better feel for the layout over there.

Do they need an improved dugout/locker room facility? I believe the field itself has been reworked and is quite good. I honestly haven't heard much from coach or players about what may be lacking at Wilkins and would be curious to know what they or others think.

I wouldn't think expanding capacity would be crazy expensive. Personally, for a venue like Wilkins, I'd rather have excess seating than not enough. I don't think that's going to kill atmosphere and I'd rather not have to turn people away for the big games that draw more interest. Sure, it's cool to say you've had a sellout, but when that is 800 people I'm not sure it's really a selling point. Especially when you could hit 1k plus depending on the opponent. And as they continue to improve, I see regular attendance growing anyway and we should be prepared to accommodate that and more.

The batting cages are literally along the 3rd base outfield fence.

To me the easiest thing is to move those elsewhere, maybe farther on the outfield walls. Then add seating along the 3rd base line and some in the outfield. Like you said, I don't think it would be that expensive to really add capacity.

The extra cost is likely the "amenities" listed that UCF added.

[flyingMoose]

I kind of like Liberty’s Stadium. Nice but not freakish like Oregon.

Link provided.

[SubGod22]

The ground level press box is definitely odd. I'm not sure what the view is like from there, but you might be able to sell those as seating options if you build a new press box. It could be a selling point for some, especially when it's a bit chilly.

I'd like to see capacity at 1200 minimum and maybe with a standing room only option somewhere. Definitely with the option to add more or bring in some temp seating should we host a regional or something some day.

I feel for the umpires. I've been in some officials rooms that were horribly small and uncomfortable. More so when you had varsity and sub-varsity officials sharing the same small area and are all in there at the same time.

Build a new press box above the stands. Move the batting cages and build up seating on the 3rd base side to mirror what you see down first, more or less. That should probably get the capacity up to where it should be.

[1972Shocker]

Something like Liberty's stadium would be nice. However, I would extend the seating to the left and right of the press box up a few more rows and I would ditch canopy extending from both sides of the press box. At the time of the year softball is played I want all the sunshine I can get when attending a game.

[mattdalt]

NIL trumps all. Why spend it on facilities, when the kids want the money?

[ShockerFever]

Need to be regional host worthy before we need a stadium that’s regional host worthy.

What’s the average attendance per year?

[SubGod22]

In non-revenue sports, facilities will be even more important as there isn't going to be as much NIL money for those student-athletes. Those are also the athletes more likely to focus on and take academics seriously. Now having some NIL money available for some of them still doesn't hurt, and I'm glad Syd is involved in that and I'm pretty sure Addie is as well.

[SubGod22]

Need to be regional host worthy before we need a stadium that’s regional host worthy.

What’s the average attendance per year?

The top 16 are in theory your regional hosts. We've been pretty close at least once in the past and are a top 25 caliber program and it's not that big of a leap to crack that 16 at that point. We're one good pitcher away from being in that picture right now.

I'm not sure what the average attendance is, but we had multiple games where they had to turn fans away because they were at capacity, which is around 800.

[flyingMoose]

In non-revenue sports, facilities will be even more important as there isn't going to be as much NIL money for those student-athletes. Those are also the athletes more likely to focus on and take academics seriously. Now having some NIL money available for some of them still doesn't hurt, and I'm glad Syd is involved in that and I'm pretty sure Addie is as well.

Exactly.

Beyond two or maybe three members of a team, facilities will be a far stronger reason to come to WSU than NIL opportunities. That and the chance to play in an NCAA Regional which is probably most important.