Spec Martin Stadium is a 6,000 seat

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium located in

DeLand, Florida DeLand is a city in central Florida. It is the county seat of Volusia County. The city sits approximately north of the central business district of Orlando, and approximately west of the central business district of Daytona Beach. As of the 2020 ...

. Spec Martin Stadium currently hosts Stetson Hatters football,

DeLand High School DeLand High School is a public high school in DeLand, Florida, established in 1922, with an enrollment of 3,616 students, a student/teacher ratio of 16.5, and a graduation rate above 90%. Special programs International Baccalaureate DeLand Hig ...

Bulldog

and was the host of the

Central Florida Warriors The Central Florida Warriors were a semi-professional rugby league team based in DeLand, Florida United States. They competed in the USA Rugby League (USARL) in the Southeast Rugby League Conference. They play their home games at Spec Martin Stadi ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

team. The stadium was known as DeLand Municipal Stadium from is opening in 1941 until it was renamed in 1973.

History

The stadium had served as home of the

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887 ...

Hatters football team before the school discontinued its football program in 1956, and in 2013 it once again featured Hatters football when Stetson started play in the

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member s ...

after a 57-year hiatus.

Renovations

As part of Stetson's re-entry into

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

, Spec Martin Stadium underwent significant renovations, including a new

press box The press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box and can be either enclosed or open to the e ...

, handicapped and premium seating areas, and new locker room facilities.

Notable events

Spec Martin Stadium was a filming location for the 1998 film ''

The Waterboy ''The Waterboy'' is a 1998 American sports comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. It was written by Adam Sandler as well as Tim Herlihy and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. Sandler also stars as the title character while Kathy B ...

'' starring

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

. In the movie, the stadium depicted the home field of the fictional South Central Louisiana State Mud Dogs. The stadium hosted a qualifying match between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup on December 8, 2015. The match ended in an 18–18 draw; neither team qualified for the World Cup, as they both lost qualifying matches to the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

References

External links

Deland.org

{{Florida college football venues College football venues College lacrosse venues in the United States Stetson Hatters football American football venues in Florida Rugby league in Florida Rugby league stadiums in the United States Sports venues completed in 1941 1941 establishments in Florida

History

Renovations

Notable events

See also

References

External links