Wendel D. Ley Track and Holloway Field is a
stadium
A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
in
Houston, Texas
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. It is primarily used for
track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
and
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
for the
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres.
Rice University comp ...
Owls. It is bounded by Main Street (southeast), University Boulevard (southwest),
Reckling Park
Reckling Park is the baseball stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas, US. It serves as the home field of the Rice Owls baseball team. The stadium was built on the site of Cameron Field, Rice's home from 1978 to 1999, in time for the 20 ...
baseball field (west) and open athletic fields (north).
The stadium sits on the location of Rice Field, Rice's old football stadium which opened in 1913 and was used until the opening of
Rice Stadium in 1950. (Games in 1912 had been played at
West End Park). The venue held less than 37,000 people for football. Today, it holds approximately 5,000 people. Part of the grandstand from the visitor's side of the old football stadium is used as the current grandstand, although the bleachers were removed. Today, there are about 100 permanent seats on the stone terracing.
The soccer field was installed in 2000-2001 after Rice added women's soccer as a varsity sport. In October 2002, the stadium hosted a
WUSA exhibition match between the
Washington Freedom (featuring
Mia Hamm
Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm (born March 17, 1972) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player, two-time Women's Football at the Summer Olympics, Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Haile ...
) and the
Atlanta Beat. The event set the current stadium record with more than 5,000 tickets sold. The stadium hosted another WUSA exhibition in 2003 and has hosted two conference soccer tournaments: the
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington.
Due to ...
Tournament in 2002 and the
Conference USA
Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas.
Mem ...
Tournament (won by Rice) in 2005. The
WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships were held there in 2002 and again in 2004. Following Rice's move to
Conference USA
Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas.
Mem ...
in 2005, the C-USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships were hosted at the facility in 2007.
The stadium has also served as a practice venue for soccer teams visiting Houston, including the
United States men's national team,
Everton of the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
, the
Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...
, the
Republic of Ireland women's national football team, and the
Argentina men's national football team.
The stadium has also hosted a series of summer all-comer track and field meets for more than 20 years, and notable athletes including
Carl Lewis
Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and lo ...
,
Michael Johnson,
Joanna Hayes
Joanna Dove Hayes (born December 23, 1976, Williamsport, Pennsylvania) is an American hurdler, who won the gold medal in the Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres hurdles, 100 metres hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Sh ...
and
Bryan Bronson have competed.
References
External links
Venue information
Defunct college football venues
Rice Owls football
Rice Owls sports venues
American football venues in Houston
Soccer venues in Houston
College soccer venues in the United States
College track and field venues in the United States
2000 establishments in Texas
Sports venues completed in 2000
Athletics (track and field) venues in Texas
College football venues in Texas
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