Mike Candrea Field at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium is the
softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
stadium for the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
. The stadium is on-campus and can seat 2,956 people.
Hillenbrand Stadium, as it is more commonly known, was completed in 1993 and is named for the sister of the late William G. Hillenbrand (the Hillenbrand family have been long time Arizona benefactors). With the continued success of the
Arizona softball team, which has won eight national championships, thanks to
Mike Candrea
John Michael Candrea (born August 29, 1955) is the former head softball coach at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. He was the head coach of the United States women's national softball team in 2004, when Team USA won a gold medal, and ...
, remains one of the premier venues in college softball. The Wildcats led the NCAA in attendance from 2000–02, and from 2006–08.
On January 29, 2022, the university announced that, following Candrea's retirement and in agreement with the Hillenbrand family, Candrea's name would be added to the name of the stadium to honor his career.
References
Arizona Wildcats softball
College softball venues in the United States
Sports venues completed in 1993
Sports venues in Tucson, Arizona
University of Arizona
1993 establishments in Arizona
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