War Memorial Stadium 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 either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

located in

Wailuku, Hawaii Wailuku is a census-designated place (CDP) in and county seat of Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 17,697 at the 2020 census. Wailuku is located just west of Kahului, at the mouth of the Iao Valley. In the early 20th centur ...

that opened in 1969 and holds 23,000 people. It is primarily used for

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

, and from 1998 through 2005 was the venue for the

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

, a

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 ...

all-star game. When the stadium originally opened in 1969 it held fewer than 7,000 people. It was expanded due to the efforts of the then-mayor of Maui,

Linda Lingle Linda Lingle (''née'' Cutter; June 4, 1953) is an American politician, who was the sixth governor of Hawaii from 2002 until 2010. She was the first Republican governor of Hawaii since 1962. Lingle was also the state's first female and first Je ...

, to host the Hula Bowl. War Memorial Stadium is also home to the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) High School Football association and soccer matches are played in the stadium. War Memorial Stadium is also equipped with a state of the art 440 yard track, long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vaulting pits. In 1972, the stadium was the site of the first State High School Track and Field Championships held outside of

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, chosen in part because of the new state of the art

rubberized asphalt Rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC), also known as asphalt rubber or just rubberized asphalt, is noise reducing pavement material that consists of regular asphalt concrete mixed with crumb rubber made from recycled tires. Asphalt rubber is the la ...

surface. The football field has a grass surface. Plans to replace the grass with artificial turf were abandoned in 2014 when bids came in 50% above the expected $1 million. The only regular-season college football game to take place on Maui occurred on September 8, 2001, when the University of Hawaii Warriors defeated the visiting

Montana Grizzlies The Montana Grizzlies and Lady Griz are the nicknames given to the athletic teams of the University of Montana, located in Missoula. The university is a member of the Big Sky Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding six men's teams ( ...

30–12 in front of a crowd of 12,863.

War Memorial Stadium Complex

The War Memorial Stadium Complex includes 1,500 plus seat

Maehara Stadium Maehara Stadium is a stadium in Wailuku, Hawaii. It is primarily used for baseball, and was the home field of Na Koa Ikaika Maui from 2010 to 2013. It also hosted the Maui Stingrays of the Hawaii Winter Baseball league. History The park opened i ...

adjacent to War Memorial Stadium. It is home to the Maui Interscholastic League Baseball and American Legion Games. The complex also houses training facilities for H.P. Baldwin High School, additional soccer fields, softball fields, Soichi Sakamoto Pool and 2,000+ seat War Memorial Gymnasium. The complex was dedicated in 1965 to honor the Veterans of Maui County (comprising the Islands of Maui, Moloka'i and Lana'i) who gave their lives in service of their country. The stadium complex is located on the windward side of the island between the towns of

Kahului Kahului () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It hosts the county's main airport (Kahului Airport), deep-draft harbor, light industrial areas, and commercial shopping centers. The population was 26,337 ...

and the county seat

Wailuku Wailuku is a census-designated place (CDP) in and county seat of Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 17,697 at the 2020 census. Wailuku is located just west of Kahului, at the mouth of the Iao Valley. In the early 20th centur ...

, on the Valley Isle of

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

and is adjacent to H. P. Baldwin High School.

The largest high school football stadium

War Memorial Stadium is the largest

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

stadium in the United States.

References

American football venues in Hawaii Athletics (track and field) venues in Hawaii Buildings and structures in Maui County, Hawaii College football venues High school football venues in the United States Rugby league stadiums in the United States Soccer venues in Hawaii Sports venues completed in 1969 1969 establishments in Hawaii {{Hawaii-sport-stub