Soccer takes over at 'The Shaw'

By Jeremy Herb

For the first time in 43 years, Buck Shaw Stadium, which has hosted Santa Clara football, baseball and soccer, is a single-sport facility.

With baseball's move across the street to Schott Stadium this past April, Buck Shaw only houses Santa Clara soccer and the university intends to reward its program with renovations to the field and surrounding grandstands.

After the 2005 season, tentative plans are in place to resurface the playing field and move it 50 feet towards the entrance, which will allow for a full-size practice field, a luxury the Broncos do not currently have. Following the 2006 season, construction on new seating will begin. There are plans to add new grandstands to both sides of the field, to reconfigure the lights specifically for soccer and to refurbish the concession area.

Women's soccer head coach Jerry Smith hopes the stadium project will be complete before the start of the 2007 season.

"We want the best soccer facility on any college campus in America," he said, adding ambitiously, "We will have that."

Assistant vice president of university operations Joe Sugg explained that construction will not alter the seating capacity of 6,800 much, but "preferred" seating, with chair-backs, would be added. The field would be sand-based, which Sugg compared to the baseball infield at Schott Stadium and to a putting green. The sand-based field would drain quickly enough to allow games to be played shortly after rainfall.

While this project would be a great addition for the soccer program and the university, money will determine when they are completed.

Men's soccer head coach Cameron Rast said that the university's goal was to raise $15-$20 million for the project. He said the university was in the process of fund raising for Buck Shaw, but had not acquired any key donors yet. The actual cost of the project is currently unknown, according to university officials.

Athletic Director Dan Coonan declined comment for this story.

To help with fund raising, a "stadium committee" was created, which, according to Smith, is loosely made up of those who are interested in seeing the improvements completed.

"The one thing everyone in the group has in common is they're passionate about Santa Clara soccer and they're passionate about building a new stadium," he said. "We need to become a little more formalized and have a little more direction, but we're hoping to do that in the next month or so."

Smith hopes the group can help raise a sufficient amount of money to keep Buck Shaw's renovations moving forward.

"We are all novices at this type of project so we're learning by our mistakes and figuring things out," he said.

For many of Buck Shaw's faithful, the upgrades are long overdue.

"The wood here is a little on the rotten side," said alumni Vincent Armerich, class of '67. "It was nice when it was first built. Obviously the time has come for some renovations."

While stadium improvements would be a bonus for fans, the players would enjoy them even more. Sophomore midfielder Peter Lowry believes the biggest benefit the Broncos would get from the renovations would be the increased crowd noise.

"Something that would help would be to create a student section, right behind the goals, getting crazy," he said. "Getting the other team rattled, like the Ruff Riders do at the basketball games."

Junior AJ Perry, a member of the Ruff Riders executive council, explained that the renovations would energize Bronco fans.

"Buck Shaw is a great facility -- for football. Other schools have much more intimate, enclosed stadiums. The fans have a lot closer experience and a bigger impact on the game, and I'd like to see that here," he said.

Rast was hopeful that Buck Shaw's renovations would increase interest in the soccer program. "Build it right and build it intimately, and the fans will come out in droves," he said.

"Building it right," means keeping comfort in mind for some Bronco fans. Chris Sigler, father of senior defender Cat Sigler, believes Buck Shaw's renovations should make for a more pleasant game.

"It's hotter than hell on this side," he said. "So if they built the new side we'd want to sit over there for the home games on Sunday afternoon."

Buck Shaw first opened in 1962. It was named after former Santa Clara football coach, Lawrence T. "Buck" Shaw. He coached the Broncos from 1936-1942.

During Shaw's tenure, the Broncos compiled an overall record of 47-10-4.

In his first season, the Broncos defeated Saint Mary's for the first time in 13 years. At the end of the season, he led the Broncos to their first bowl game, the Sugar Bowl. They were matched up against the No. 1-ranked Louisiana State University Tigers and were huge underdogs, but got out to an early lead and won 21-14.

The first game played at Buck Shaw was a football game against UC Davis on Sept. 22, 1962, which the Broncos lost.

Contact Jeremy Herb at (408) 551-1918 or JMHerb@scu.edu