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Favorite Fields in the State

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Aug 15, 2010
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I randomly came across some YouTube videos of the best high school stadiums in the country, I never saw any Iowa fields on there. Anyway I thought it would be interesting to see what are some peoples favorite fields from around the state. All of these I have either played on, or attended a game at. I will admit I haven't been to many games in the western part of the state, and I haven't been to many 8 man games. Here is my list

4A
Valley- Sort of the stadium that many are measured against
Johnston - I went to a game there this year and was super impressed with how they did their stadium
Dalzell Field (Dubuque)- I really like the way they did this remodel, Dubuque is not an easy town to build an athletic complex in and they did a nice job.

3A
Decorah - This is purely a view pic, there is a bluff behind the visitor seating that when fall colors are in full effect, is amazing.
West Delware- Nothing overly amazing about this field, but I like the fact that there is no track which puts you really close to the action, and they have done a nice job with some of the finishing touches.
Fairfield- I played at this one in high school, it is a bowl first of all which is nice, and they actually had a tunnel that went from the high school locker room to the field which was cool.
Knoxville- Another one that I played at, I believe they fixed it up a bit, but it is one of the most unique stadiums in the state in my opinion.

2A
Solon- This was sort of the first smaller school to get a new stadium with field turf, I like the fact that is a 2 deck stand of the home side.
South Tama- Built into a hill and from the visitor side before the sun sets, you get a really nice view of rolling hills.

1A
West Branch- Maybe the most iconic field in the state, the Little Rose Bowl, bowl style field with no track which as I mentioned I really like

A
Clayton Ridge- Bluffs behind the home seating and the Mississippi River behind the visitors, probably the most scenic field in the state.
North Tama- Small field sort of squeezed into a neighborhood, which of course means no track, and I am not sure this still happens, but their used to be a guy in one corner of the endzone that would park a pontoon in his yard with Christmas lights and have a few beverages with his buddies.

These are just a few of the ones I like, I'm interested to hear some others.
 
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Don’t get the love for the West Branch field.

The ‘bowl’ is overstated, it is one end and not that elevated.
It’s not on school campus.
The visitor seating is inadequate.
Press box was just finally redone last year and still didn’t have enough room for the press at the Regina vs West Branch playoff game last fall.
Field quality Itself is rough.
The view beyond the field is just houses.
You have to stand in the middle of the road if you’re in line for concessions at the new press box (which got a student hit by a car last fall).

I think the attention it gets is for the field nickname, ‘the little rose bowl’.
 
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Must include Ed Thomas Field known as the ‘Sacred Acre’ located in Parkersburg.

Iconic field with a historic football program and community
 
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I agree with Pinehawk, the “Little Rose Bowl” has to be the most overrated field in Iowa. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice field but not worth all the slobber over.

Terf fields are whatever. They’re all the same to me.

Layout wise, I really like Williamsburg’s field. And there’s something Albia’s field that I like too.
 
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I really think some of those things you mentioned about West Branch are what gives it its charm. I will admit I attended a game as a neutral observer, if I was a fan or coach of the opponent I may not like it so much. I will also say in the WB Regina rivalry I would put Regina on my list from what I have seen I’ve just never been to an event there.

I agree with Albia and Williamsburg especially Albia with no track.

As for AP it’s a well maintained field, but it’s essentially a field behind the school with normal seating and a track around it. Nothing overly special about it, I guess like West Branch it has been well publicized.
 
4A
Valley- Sort of the stadium that many are measured against
Johnston - I went to a game there this year and was super impressed with how they did their stadium
Dalzell Field (Dubuque)- I really like the way they did this remodel, Dubuque is not an easy town to build an athletic complex in and they did a nice job.
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Fun thread, having to primarily attend 4A games/stadiums I’d agree with Valley stadium. Very nice facility, not having a track around makes all the difference and the locker facilities/location makes a neat setting. Never been to Johnston but Dalzell is certainly a quality venue, did a great job of mixing old with new. Of the venues I’ve been to Burlington was sort of unique, although the visitors seating was sparse at best. Some kids enjoy Brady St Stadium, Davenport (recently remodeled) and with a significant facelift, Kingston in CR could be nicer.
 
Decorah is a good choice. Not quite as picturesque as Luther’s field, but the view of the river and the bluffs on the opposite side is great.

Goodenow Field in Maquoketa is a neat little place. Bowled in on the west side, and the Cardinals enter the field down that hill through an arched gateway.

Wahlert gets to play at Loras’ Rock Bowl, so not technically a high school field, but the view off the east end zone over the city and the Mississippi is wonderful. Plus the rocks actually bowling in the west and north sides (the visitors’ bleachers are actually centered around the 35-yard line because the north side slopes down so much).

Now if you want to talk press boxes ... o_O ...

West Delaware’s Brown Field is a nice place for football, with a decent press box that was actually built with two radio booths. Problem is, the visitors’ radio booth has been taken over by WD’s video crew, so visiting radio people are given the choice of sharing the booth with the visiting coaches or sitting in the stands (I understand the necessity of tight press boxes that aren’t designed for multiple radio broadcasts, but this one WAS designed for it and the AD just tells visiting radio “too bad for you”).

South Tama is a neat design for the visiting stands (bleachers are on a hillside sloping down to the field), but that’s one of those places that has a tiny press box. As visiting radio we were put in with the coaches in essentially a shed on the visiting side. We asked if we could move to an old, no-longer-used concession stand behind the visitors’ bleachers - that worked pretty well since we were at the top of the hill sloping down to the field, but we actually had a couple of people come up to the window and try to order snacks. :D
 
(As the parent of Xavier alums, I can tell you that field is a lot nicer with the Field Turf they got last season. No more huge crown in the middle! Although it’s one of those fields with the home stands on the east side, so you’re looking into a hot, bright sunset for the first 3 or 4 weeks of the season ...)
 
This will be long winded, nothing important here, I am just bored. Will not be offended if you scroll past.

This field is definitely not the best, but being a person who doesn't see a lot of high school stadiums, this is my hometown.

This process probably technically started when they replaced the 50 year old lights on the home sideline with lights that they could easilyish spin around to face the practice field /future site of the game field back in the early 2000's.

When I was in high school in the late 2000's the head coach was my home room teacher. He was on the phone often with people talking about prices for irrigation and turf and all that fun stuff.

A few years after I graduated they had to move the field to the site of the practice field as the new elementary was being built onto the middle school /high school and its was going to sit on the current game field. The game field now sits inside the track. The practice field moved to the FFA test pilot and test pilot moved elsewhere. A few years after the football field was done they resized and surfaced the track. Hosted the first meet in town in about 50 years recently.

I do miss the days of being able to watch games without having a track between you and the field. Or the fans breathing down my neck as a player. Visitors had temporary bleachers on the infield dirt of the baseball field, so that left something to be desired. That field was in rough shape towards the end of it 62 year life. I miss that field.

The main entrance of the new field is along the brand new elementary school. The field itself is pretty well surrounded by full grown evergreen trees. Home sideline grandstands are massive for a class A school. I think 3,000 is the capacity. I want to say the bleachers came from a racetrack somewhere in southern minnesota. They were free but the stipulation was they needed to be taken down and removed from the racetrack immediately. This was before the new football field was set in stone and even if/when it was, it was going to be a few more years until they were needed. It is hard to pass up free bleachers though and they could always be sold for scrap or given away again. So a group of volunteers went up their with some trailers and brought them back to sit in storage for a few years. My hometown has some pretty good community support, but those bleachers have never been filled up completely aside from the first game at the new field when there were only a few rows that had been in stalled. Even if all the folks that prefer to stand sat down, they wouldn't fill up. They are nice bleachers though and if they ever host a large track meet they will have space for lots of people.

As far as best field, in my limited experience, Aplington Parkersburg is the nicest field I have personally seen/been on.
 
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I have been to hundreds of high school games in four states, and I've never seen anything else like Kingston Stadium. It may need some updates, but it's a real, true stadium with so much history. I'm a sucker for fields with character and history. I like Dodger Stadium in Fort Dodge, old Sloane Wallace Field in Waterloo (no longer used for varsity), and places like that.
 
It’s interesting that you mention Sloane Wallace. Been to a few games there myself. I really think they should renovate that, and let Waterloo East play there again, and let West remain at Memorial Stadium. It would be a nice way for East to have a tie to their past, not to mention being much closer than driving clear across town for their games. Always seemed a bit bizarre to me that their stadium would be closer to CF than to East.
 
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Sloane Wallace is just a cool old place, full of history. It is weird that the stadium is practially in Cedar Falls, and always weird that the school there is called "Central" when it is not in any way central. Sloane Wallace was at the old site of West Waterloo high school, however, so in some ways has more of a connection to the Wahawks, though East certainly made more history there.
 
I haven't been to as many fields as probably many here have.
But, agree with the sentiment on the new turf fields. They are very nice. They look great. But, the 'character' is gone.
Thinking of Solon, Clear Creek, West High, etc.
Some fields that I really like:
Mediapolis (turf, but way nicer than I expected for a smaller school and the stone entryway was cool).
Signourny-Keota ( I think it was S-K, had a little 3' half wall around the field that fans could sit on, pretty cool.
Xavier (the new Xavier field is turf, but the complex is really nice).
Regina (I'm partial, but the bleachers are build into a side hill providing a great top down view with a background of Hickory Hill Park, trees as far as you can see. Feels like it's own little world. Plus the field is always painted very well and cut as short as a golf course, looks better each year).

69899520_132406141434026_7903415310232441471_n.jpg
 
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I haven't been to as many fields as probably many here have.
But, agree with the sentiment on the new turf fields. They are very nice. They look great. But, the 'character' is gone.
Thinking of Solon, Clear Creek, West High, etc.
Some fields that I really like:
Mediapolis (turf, but way nicer than I expected for a smaller school and the stone entryway was cool).
Signourny-Keota ( I think it was S-K, had a little 3' half wall around the field that fans could sit on, pretty cool.
Xavier (the new Xavier field is turf, but the complex is really nice).
Regina (I'm partial, but the bleachers are build into a side hill providing a great top down view with a background of Hickory Hill Park, trees as far as you can see. Feels like it's own little world. Plus the field is always painted very well and cut as short as a golf course, looks better each year).

69899520_132406141434026_7903415310232441471_n.jpg
I think Regina's field is overrated.....
 
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