Whether or not you think the 3a/4a State Championship games should be moved away from LU, we can put one question to rest. Is W&M a suitable host? Please read the article below and you tell me if the facilities are adequate.
By JOHN O’CONNOR Richmond Times-Dispatch
WILLIAMSBURG — Look across the field from the new upper deck at William and Mary’s Zable Stadium and there is the path Tribe freshmen used to walk — outside, in uniform, between seating areas — to get from the main football locker room to their dressing quarters.
This was no initiation rite. There wasn’t room for first-year players to suit up with their teammates. The freshmen annex doubled as a football meeting room.
The path is near the tiny ticket booth where coaches used to sit in folding chairs and hold postgame media meetings with reporters who stood in a tight circle around them. That booth is below the press box where visiting radio broadcasters needed to rise and lean to see the scoreboard.
William and Mary started making significant football complex upgrades with the 2005 addition of lights and the 2006 removal of worn grass, replaced by FieldTurf. The 2008 opening of the $11 million Laycock Football Center, a support building named after Jimmye Laycock, the Tribe’s coach since 1980, provided players and coaches with a modern headquarters next to a stadium that opened eight decades ago and was still awaiting modernization.
Starting this season, a $27 million renovation of Zable Stadium completes the makeover of the Tribe’s football operation. W&M has gone from having some of the least impressive football facilities in the CAA about a decade ago to having some of the most impressive.
Zable’s renovations include the addition of an upper deck, 11 suites, a common area for various activities on the suite level and an expansive press box. Also, safety and accessibility improvements were made, and a new sound system was installed along with a new west-side entrance, new concessions stands, a new retail location and new rest rooms. Zable will soon get a fresh artificial surface.
Before W&M extends invitations to prospects for official recruiting visits, they’re making trips to Williamsburg on their own because of the enhancements’ attraction, according to Laycock.
“They’re seeing things online and saying, ‘That’s a really nice facility, a nice commitment, so I want to go there and check it out,’” he said. “What’s neat is not just showing them a bunch of drawings and plans, but actually brick and mortar.”
Although an upper deck was added, a seating reconfiguration that includes wider aisles means capacity won’t greatly change. Zable Stadium last season could hold 11,686 and will accommodate 12,400 starting this year.
One of the 11 suites is reserved for W&M’s administration. The other 10 have been — or will be, in one case — leased by Tribe supporters, according to Bobby Dwyer, W&M’s senior associate athletics director.
The difference in the stadium “will be the fan experience,” said Dwyer. For players, renovated Zable will offer “more of a big-time atmosphere,” said Laycock.
Season-ticket sales are ahead of where they were at this time last year, when the Tribe sold 2,900 season tickets, according to Ryan Riddle, W&M’s ticket manager.
Private gifts, $38 million worth, are financing the Laycock Center and Zable’s improvements.
“It makes me feel very humble and very proud that people think that much of our football program,” said Laycock, a 1970 W&M graduate who played defensive back and quarterback. “I don’t think people would be parting with that kind of money unless they felt like it was going to a good cause.”
Cary Field, which opened in 1935 after construction that cost $138,395, became Cary Field at Zable Stadium in 1990. The stadium was named for Walter Zable (Class of 1937), a former W&M star athlete, and his wife Betty (Class of 1940). They provided a $10 million gift.
joconnor@timesdispatch.com(804) 649-6233
@RTDjohnoconnor
By JOHN O’CONNOR Richmond Times-Dispatch
WILLIAMSBURG — Look across the field from the new upper deck at William and Mary’s Zable Stadium and there is the path Tribe freshmen used to walk — outside, in uniform, between seating areas — to get from the main football locker room to their dressing quarters.
This was no initiation rite. There wasn’t room for first-year players to suit up with their teammates. The freshmen annex doubled as a football meeting room.
The path is near the tiny ticket booth where coaches used to sit in folding chairs and hold postgame media meetings with reporters who stood in a tight circle around them. That booth is below the press box where visiting radio broadcasters needed to rise and lean to see the scoreboard.
William and Mary started making significant football complex upgrades with the 2005 addition of lights and the 2006 removal of worn grass, replaced by FieldTurf. The 2008 opening of the $11 million Laycock Football Center, a support building named after Jimmye Laycock, the Tribe’s coach since 1980, provided players and coaches with a modern headquarters next to a stadium that opened eight decades ago and was still awaiting modernization.
Starting this season, a $27 million renovation of Zable Stadium completes the makeover of the Tribe’s football operation. W&M has gone from having some of the least impressive football facilities in the CAA about a decade ago to having some of the most impressive.
Zable’s renovations include the addition of an upper deck, 11 suites, a common area for various activities on the suite level and an expansive press box. Also, safety and accessibility improvements were made, and a new sound system was installed along with a new west-side entrance, new concessions stands, a new retail location and new rest rooms. Zable will soon get a fresh artificial surface.
Before W&M extends invitations to prospects for official recruiting visits, they’re making trips to Williamsburg on their own because of the enhancements’ attraction, according to Laycock.
“They’re seeing things online and saying, ‘That’s a really nice facility, a nice commitment, so I want to go there and check it out,’” he said. “What’s neat is not just showing them a bunch of drawings and plans, but actually brick and mortar.”
Although an upper deck was added, a seating reconfiguration that includes wider aisles means capacity won’t greatly change. Zable Stadium last season could hold 11,686 and will accommodate 12,400 starting this year.
One of the 11 suites is reserved for W&M’s administration. The other 10 have been — or will be, in one case — leased by Tribe supporters, according to Bobby Dwyer, W&M’s senior associate athletics director.
The difference in the stadium “will be the fan experience,” said Dwyer. For players, renovated Zable will offer “more of a big-time atmosphere,” said Laycock.
Season-ticket sales are ahead of where they were at this time last year, when the Tribe sold 2,900 season tickets, according to Ryan Riddle, W&M’s ticket manager.
Private gifts, $38 million worth, are financing the Laycock Center and Zable’s improvements.
“It makes me feel very humble and very proud that people think that much of our football program,” said Laycock, a 1970 W&M graduate who played defensive back and quarterback. “I don’t think people would be parting with that kind of money unless they felt like it was going to a good cause.”
Cary Field, which opened in 1935 after construction that cost $138,395, became Cary Field at Zable Stadium in 1990. The stadium was named for Walter Zable (Class of 1937), a former W&M star athlete, and his wife Betty (Class of 1940). They provided a $10 million gift.
joconnor@timesdispatch.com(804) 649-6233
@RTDjohnoconnor
