Cajun Field
Encyclopedia
Cajun Field is a stadium
located in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana
. Nicknamed The Swamp, it is the home field of the Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns
. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette
stadium is primarily used for its American football
and women's soccer athletic teams.
Cajun Field boasts 2,577 chairback seats and bleacher seating to the capacity of another 28,423, giving the stadium an official seating capacity
of 31,000. In planning since at least 1967 (when a rendition was featured on the football media guide), it was built in 1970 as a replacement for McNaspy Stadium
, opening on September 25, 1971 with a shutout of Santa Clara University
. The stadium consists of a bowl with seating on the sidelines, with a second deck on the east sideline. One of the biggest games at the stadium was when 38,783 fans on September 14, 1996, saw the Cajuns upset 25th-ranked Texas A&M
, 29-22. It was also the first victory ever for the team over a ranked opponent. The largest crowd ever at The Swamp was 41,357 fans on September 5th, 2009, when the Cajuns beat Southern University
42-19 at the 9th annual Herbert Heymann Football Classic.
Because of Hurricane Katrina
, the 2005 New Orleans Bowl
was played here instead of in New Orleans, with Southern Miss
defeating Arkansas State
, 31-19. Also the Tulane Green Wave
football team used it for a home game in 2005 after being displaced by the hurricane.
In addition, Cajun Field hosted the final preseason game of the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League
on February 18, 1984, a 20-0 victory over the Memphis Showboats
.
In the Fall of 2007, Ragin' Cajuns athletics added a new building for all teams to have access to practice. The Leon Moncla Indoor Practice Facility includes a full size football field with endzones and field goals
Synthetic surface and banners
In the summer of 2008, Cajun Field removed its long-standing natural grass. The playing field was resurfaced with ProGrass, an artificial turf. The stadium was pressure-washed and repainted. Advertisements and banners reading "University of Louisiana at Lafayette," "Ragin' Cajuns," and "www.ragincajuns.com" also were installed around the black retaining wall that surrounds the field.
Bob Fournet Recruiting Zone
On July 19, 2010, UL Lafayette officially name the newly constructed recruiting facility after Bob Fournet. The facility includes four large meeting rooms, as well as a covered outdoor pavilion for meetings.
in a natural bowl. With the below-sea level playing surface, a total of four 60 hp pumps and a sophisticated drainage system help keep the field in solid playing condition even during the frequent south Louisiana rainstorms. The subsurface stadium requires many fans to walk down to their seats. Ragin' Cajuns football players and their opponents enter Cajun Field through an underground tunnel from the UL Lafayette athletics complex.
In 1988, the stadium was nicknamed "The Swamp," as then noted on stadium signage, in the school yearbook and, a year later, in the 1989 official Southwestern Louisiana sports media guide. The characteristics which helped create the tradition of the swamp
-referenced nickname are tied to the field's early 1970s construction and even refer back to the original football field for what was then the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute in the early 1900s. The university's first football field was on the main campus adjacent to a small cypress pond, which later became Cypress Lake
, also nicknamed The Swamp.
The Swamp nickname also fits with the area's geography, comprising many bayous and wetlands, including the Atchafalaya Basin
and the nearby Gulf of Mexico
marsh
lands. The National Wetlands Research Center
, a United States Geological Survey
research facility at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
, is located less than a half-mile away from Cajun Field.
The other Division I FBS stadium nicknamed "The Swamp," Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
at the University of Florida
, did not adopt the nickname until 1991 when Steve Spurrier
bestowed the nickname on the stadium.
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
located in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
. Nicknamed The Swamp, it is the home field of the Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns
The Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette...
. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...
stadium is primarily used for its American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and women's soccer athletic teams.
Cajun Field boasts 2,577 chairback seats and bleacher seating to the capacity of another 28,423, giving the stadium an official seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of 31,000. In planning since at least 1967 (when a rendition was featured on the football media guide), it was built in 1970 as a replacement for McNaspy Stadium
McNaspy Stadium
McNaspy Stadium was built on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1940. It was named for the first athletic director and football coach at the university, Clement "C.J" McNaspy...
, opening on September 25, 1971 with a shutout of Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
. The stadium consists of a bowl with seating on the sidelines, with a second deck on the east sideline. One of the biggest games at the stadium was when 38,783 fans on September 14, 1996, saw the Cajuns upset 25th-ranked Texas A&M
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, 29-22. It was also the first victory ever for the team over a ranked opponent. The largest crowd ever at The Swamp was 41,357 fans on September 5th, 2009, when the Cajuns beat Southern University
Southern University
Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Baton Rouge campus is located on Scott’s Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the northern section...
42-19 at the 9th annual Herbert Heymann Football Classic.
Because of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, the 2005 New Orleans Bowl
New Orleans Bowl
The New Orleans Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana since 2001. The game was sponsored by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from 2002 to 2004 and was officially called the Wyndham New...
was played here instead of in New Orleans, with Southern Miss
The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi, informally known as Southern Miss, is a large public research university located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. It is situated north of Gulfport, Mississippi and northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana...
defeating Arkansas State
Arkansas State University
Arkansas State University is a public university and is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System, the state's second largest college system and third largest university by enrollment. It is located atop on Crowley's Ridge at Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA...
, 31-19. Also the Tulane Green Wave
Tulane Green Wave
Green Wave, the nickname of the sports teams of Tulane University, was adopted during the 1920 season, after a song titled The Rolling Green Wave was published in Tulane's student newspaper in 1920. From 1893 to 1919, the athletic teams of Tulane were known as the Olive and Blue for the official...
football team used it for a home game in 2005 after being displaced by the hurricane.
In addition, Cajun Field hosted the final preseason game of the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
on February 18, 1984, a 20-0 victory over the Memphis Showboats
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were a franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders...
.
Facility upgrades
Leon Moncla Indoor Practice FacilityIn the Fall of 2007, Ragin' Cajuns athletics added a new building for all teams to have access to practice. The Leon Moncla Indoor Practice Facility includes a full size football field with endzones and field goals
Synthetic surface and banners
In the summer of 2008, Cajun Field removed its long-standing natural grass. The playing field was resurfaced with ProGrass, an artificial turf. The stadium was pressure-washed and repainted. Advertisements and banners reading "University of Louisiana at Lafayette," "Ragin' Cajuns," and "www.ragincajuns.com" also were installed around the black retaining wall that surrounds the field.
Bob Fournet Recruiting Zone
On July 19, 2010, UL Lafayette officially name the newly constructed recruiting facility after Bob Fournet. The facility includes four large meeting rooms, as well as a covered outdoor pavilion for meetings.
"The Swamp"
Cajun Field's surface is set two feet below sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
in a natural bowl. With the below-sea level playing surface, a total of four 60 hp pumps and a sophisticated drainage system help keep the field in solid playing condition even during the frequent south Louisiana rainstorms. The subsurface stadium requires many fans to walk down to their seats. Ragin' Cajuns football players and their opponents enter Cajun Field through an underground tunnel from the UL Lafayette athletics complex.
In 1988, the stadium was nicknamed "The Swamp," as then noted on stadium signage, in the school yearbook and, a year later, in the 1989 official Southwestern Louisiana sports media guide. The characteristics which helped create the tradition of the swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
-referenced nickname are tied to the field's early 1970s construction and even refer back to the original football field for what was then the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute in the early 1900s. The university's first football field was on the main campus adjacent to a small cypress pond, which later became Cypress Lake
Cypress Lake (Lafayette, Louisiana)
Cypress Lake is a swamp-like lake in the heart of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus that started as a buffalo wallow. Today it is a unique university landmark that is a habitat for native irises, alligators, turtles, birds and fish, as well as a hangout for students and a point of...
, also nicknamed The Swamp.
The Swamp nickname also fits with the area's geography, comprising many bayous and wetlands, including the Atchafalaya Basin
Atchafalaya Basin
The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp, is the largest swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the Atchafalaya River and the Gulf of Mexico converge. The river stretches from near Simmesport in the north...
and the nearby Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
lands. The National Wetlands Research Center
National Wetlands Research Center
The National Wetlands Research Center was founded in 1975 as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Biological Services. Its headquarters are located in Lafayette, Louisiana....
, a United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
research facility at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...
, is located less than a half-mile away from Cajun Field.
The other Division I FBS stadium nicknamed "The Swamp," Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field is the football stadium for the University of Florida and the home field of the university's Florida Gators football team. It is located on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The stadium was originally built in 1930, and has been regularly...
at the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
, did not adopt the nickname until 1991 when Steve Spurrier
Steve Spurrier
Stephen Orr Spurrier is an American college football coach and player. Spurrier is the current head coach of the University of South Carolina's Gamecocks football team. He is also a former professional player and coach...
bestowed the nickname on the stadium.
External links
- Cajun Field at RaginCajuns.com
- University of Louisiana at Lafayette official university website
- Webcam and photo gallery of Cajun Field construction