Harder Stadium
| Soccer Heaven | |
Harder Stadium in September 2006 looking northwest towards the Santa Ynez Mountains in Santa Barbara, California
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| Full name | Meredith Field at Harder Stadium |
|---|---|
| Former names | Campus Stadium (1966–1981) |
| Address | Stadium Road Santa Barbara, California 93106 |
| Coordinates | 34°25′13.51″N 119°51′14.77″W / 34.4204194°N 119.8541028°WCoordinates: 34°25′13.51″N 119°51′14.77″W / 34.4204194°N 119.8541028°W |
| Public transit | El Colegio & Stadium Rd., Santa Barbara MTD |
| Owner | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Operator | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Type | Stadium |
| Genre(s) | Sporting events |
| Seating type | Reserved seating and benches |
| Executive suites | 0 |
| Capacity | 17,000 |
| Record attendance | 20,000+ |
| Field shape | Rectangular |
| Surface | Natural grass |
| Scoreboard | Yes |
| Construction | |
| Opened | November 12, 1966 |
| Renovated | 2010 |
| Expanded | 1970 |
| Tenants | |
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UCSB Men's Soccer (current) UCSB Women's Soccer (current) UCSB Football (1966–1971, 1986–1991) |
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Harder Stadium (a.k.a. Soccer Heaven) is a 17,000 seat, outdoor multi-purpose stadium on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California. It serves as the on-campus soccer stadium for both the men's and women's programs. It is also currently used occasionally by the university's club rugby and lacrosse teams and previously served as the home for the football team.
The stadium was built in 1966 and is named after Theodore "Spud" Harder, a former coach of the Gauchos' football team. It hosted Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers who trained there ahead of the 1967 Super Bowl. The UC-Santa Barbara football team played their home games at Harder Stadium until football was cut after the 1972 season due to budget cuts. UCSB brought football back as a non-scholarship sport in 1983 and by 1987 was playing a full Division II and III schedule. In 1992, the NCAA ruled that Division I colleges must play at the Division I level in all sports; UCSB and a few other universities attempted to form a non-scholarship Division I-AAA level, but the effort failed and UCSB eventually dropped football. The stadium has a capacity of 17,000 people, and currently is the largest stadium on California's Central Coast. Along with the UCSB Events Center, it is one of the more well-attended athletic venues in the Central Coast.
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