Ron & Carol Cope Stadium

Ron & Carol Cope Stadium
at Foster Field
Cope Stadium
Former names	Foster Field
Address	2708 12th Ave.; Kearney, Nebraska, U.S.
Coordinates	40°41′58″N 99°05′53″W / 40.6994°N 99.098°W
Owner	University of Nebraska–Kearney
Operator	University of Nebraska–Kearney
Type	Football stadium
Capacity	5,250
Surface	FieldTurf
Construction
Opened	1939
Renovated	2004
Tenants
	Nebraska–Kearney Lopers (football & soccer)

Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field is a football stadium located in Kearney, Nebraska, U.S., on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus. In 2005, the university named the stadium after Ron and Carol Cope, who were long-time supporters of the University of Nebraska system.^[1] The field is named after Charlie Foster, a former coach and athletic director at Nebraska–Kearney.

Renovations[edit]

The stadium had an outdoor track surrounding Foster Field until the early 2000s. After the 2003 season, a FieldTurf surface was installed. The first game played on the new field was on September 3. The Nebraska–Kearney Lopers football team beat the Wayne State Warriors in front of 3,804 fans.^[2]

The complete renovation of the stadium totaled out to be over $7.2 million, which was completed during the 2005 season. The stadium is three stories tall, and includes concession stands, restrooms, and ticket booths. The third floor has a large hospitality room that seats, coaches and radio booths, game-day operations rooms and the press box.^[2]

An LED message center and scoreboard was added at the South end zone, as well. The North end zone is a facility that contains the locker rooms, meeting rooms, athletic training facilities, officials' quarters, and equipment storage.^[2]

Other uses[edit]

The women's soccer team has played at Cope Stadium since 2009. The program's first regular season game drew 3,227 fans, setting a Division II record that still stands.^[3]

Kearney High School also uses the stadium for their home football games.^[2] The Nebraska School Activities Association's yearly state championships for high school six-man football are also held at Cope Stadium; eight-man and standard 11-man games are held at University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Memorial Stadium.^[4]

References[edit]

^ MAHONEY, BUCK (August 12, 2005). "Stadium to be named for Copes". Kearney Hub. BH Media Group Holdings, Inc. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "RON & CAROL COPE STADIUM AT FOSTER FIELD". University of Nebraska at Kearney. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
^ Mahoney, Buck (August 27, 2009). "Lopers win first soccer match; set NCAA Division II attendance record". The Grand Island Independent. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
^ https://nsaa-static.s3.amazonaws.com/textfile/fbl/finalsched.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}

External links[edit]

Cope Stadium at Foster Field - www.lopers.com
Nebraska–Kearney athletics

[1] MAHONEY, BUCK (August 12, 2005). "Stadium to be named for Copes". Kearney Hub. BH Media Group Holdings, Inc. Retrieved 2014-08-09.

[Renovations-2] "RON & CAROL COPE STADIUM AT FOSTER FIELD". University of Nebraska at Kearney. Retrieved 2014-08-09.

[3] Mahoney, Buck (August 27, 2009). "Lopers win first soccer match; set NCAA Division II attendance record". The Grand Island Independent. Retrieved 2014-08-09.

[4] ttps://nsaa-static.s3.amazonaws.com/textfile/fbl/finalsched.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}

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v t e Nebraska–Kearney Lopers football
Venues	Ron & Carol Cope Stadium (1939–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023