Unhinged Google reviews of Wyoming high school football stadiums

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Which Wyoming high school football stadium was called “beyond loud”? Which stadium had someone recommending closed-toed shoes? And which stadium was called, well… “It is a high school football place. No big deal.”

The answers are all waiting on Google Maps.

Believe it or not, a big chunk of people have left reviews about Wyoming high school football stadiums on Google. Ratings — out of five stars — and text comments drive the interaction. And, how to put this nicely? Some of the comments are exactly what you’d expect from an open-source reviews project.

Go here to take a quiz on those comments, everything from the really nice to the nostalgic to the neutral to the bitter. Don’t worry, no one’s keeping score. Correctly matched pairs disappear when you match them.

As for the ratings? As of Aug. 29, the seven top-rated fields, all with a maxed-out 5.0 rating, are Cody, Evanston, Guernsey, Lyman, Riverside, Rock Springs and Wheatland.

Other rated fields were Green River and Lusk (4.8), Cheyenne East, Cheyenne South and Thermopolis (4.7), Douglas and Rawlins (4.6), Cheyenne Central, Lander and Natrona (4.5), Midwest and Saratoga (4.3), Laramie (4.1), Burns, Hulett and Pine Bluffs (4.0) and Jackson (3.5).

Meanwhile, Campbell County, Kaycee, Kelly Walsh, Lingle, Lovell, Pinedale, Riverton, Sheridan, Thunder Basin, Tongue River, Torrington and Worland have their fields acknowledged on Google Maps, but so far no one has left a review.

And apologies to Big Horn, Big Piney, Buffalo, Burlington, Casper Christian, Cokeville, Dubois, Encampment, Farson, Glenrock, Greybull, Hanna, Kemmerer, Meeteetse, Moorcroft, Mountain View, Newcastle, Powell, Rocky Mountain, St. Stephens, Shoshoni, Snake River, Southeast, Star Valley, Sundance, Ten Sleep, Upton, Wind River, Wright and Wyoming Indian. Your fields aren’t marked on Google Maps, so no one can leave a review. At least not yet. Maybe that’s a blessing in disguise.

By the way, don’t like your stadium’s rating? Leave your own review on Google. Maybe someday, someone like me will add it to a silly online quiz.

–patrick

Cinder tracks make their quiet disappearance

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Not all that long ago, Wyoming high school track athletes would have been forgiven for having dirty spikes.

It would have made sense, given that many runners ran their races on dirt.

All-weather track and field surfaces have been around since the 1970s, and state track meets have been run on all-weather surfaces since the early to mid-1970s, but only recently have the rubberized surfaces become commonplace at nearly every Wyoming high school.

In fact, from what I can find, only five schools still have the old dirt or cinder track surfaces.

As of early 2024 via Google Maps, Satellites Pro and/or current photos I could find, the five schools still running on dirt or cinder track surfaces appear to be Encampment, Hulett, Lingle, Rock River and Southeast.

Two other schools have non-regulation tracks for practice. Arvada-Clearmont has an all-weather track that’s about half sized; Ten Sleep has some weird non-regulation track that has a surface that is… um… difficult to ascertain. (Anyone in Ten Sleep want to let me know what this is made of?)

Moreover, almost two-thirds of Wyoming high schools now have eight-lane, all-weather tracks, a number that has grown steadily over the years. Several others have six-lane tracks.

Here is a breakdown of who has what, at least what I could see of it:

Eight lanes (46): Big Piney, Buffalo, Burns, Campbell County, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Cheyenne South, Cody, Douglas, Evanston, Fort Washakie, Glenrock, Green River, Guernsey, Jackson, Kelly Walsh, Kemmerer, Lander, Laramie, Lusk, Lyman, Mountain View, Natrona, Newcastle, Pine Bluffs, Pinedale, Powell, Rawlins, Riverton, Rock Springs, St. Stephens, Saratoga, Sheridan, Shoshoni, Snake River, Star Valley, Sundance, Thermopolis, Thunder Basin, Torrington, Upton, Wheatland, Wind River, Worland, Wright, Wyoming Indian.

Six lanes (13): Burlington, Cokeville, Dubois, Farson, Greybull, Kaycee, Lovell, Meeteetse, Midwest, Moorcroft, Riverside, Rocky Mountain, Tongue River.

Four lanes (2): Big Horn, Hanna.

Not regulation size (2): Arvada-Clearmont, Ten Sleep.

Dirt or cinder (5): Encampment, Hulett, Lingle, Rock River, Southeast.

No track (2): Arapahoe Charter, Casper Christian.

–patrick

The (tiny) home-field advantage of scoreboard placement

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My obsession with Wyoming high school football scoreboards began a few weeks ago when I caught a livestream of a Worland football game.

For those of you who aren’t aware, Worland’s scoreboard is on a unique position on its field, nearly behind the visiting bench. Here’s a screenshot from the NFHS Network broadcast of Worland’s game with Green River a couple weeks ago:

Worland plays Green River, 2020. The scoreboard is in a unique spot.

I had never seen a placement like that before. I thought about it and realized the scoreboard placement could actually be an advantage to the Worland team and coaches, who can do a quick glance up to the scoreboard to see what’s going on, while the road team coaches have to turn their heads all the way around to see the score and time.

I know, I know, I know… small, small, small advantage, likely one that isn’t going to affect a single outcome of any game. I don’t know of any Wyoming high school football coaches with neck impairments — or, if any do, any who aren’t smart enough to hire an assistant without one. (And the press box usually houses coaches from both schools, further negating my theory.) For the players, it’s absolutely no advantage whatsoever.

But it got me wondering about scoreboard placements in Wyoming high school football stadiums. How unique was Worland’s? How unique is anyone’s?

So, I did what I usually do with my free time: I got on Google Maps. Then I started tracing — drawing lines on a computer screen to match the lines of the scoreboards on the map.

This is what I came up with:

Wyoming high school football scoreboard alignments, based on where the home team stands and benches are. Each line represents a scoreboard; the circle vaguely represents a track.

Keep in mind here that I used Google Maps, which is often a couple years behind, so any scoreboards put up in the past year or two aren’t accounted for here (looking at you, Natrona and Rock Springs). For a few stadiums where I couldn’t determine from Google Maps where the scoreboards were, I looked at photos online to try to pinpoint my best estimate.

And as it turns out, Worland was — as I had anticipated — a pretty severe outlier, one of only two scoreboards in what I’d call the “chaotic evil” of scoreboard placements.

In Wyoming, the placement of the scoreboards around fields statewide fall into six distinct categories.

Working counter-clockwise from the home stands, they are:

1. Straight on, right side: Cokeville, Kaycee, Burns, Natrona, Glenrock, Kemmerer, Jackson, Thermopolis, Cody, Saratoga, Torrington, Upton, Evanston, Cheyenne East, Laramie, Lusk, Thunder Basin, Star Valley, Lander, Rawlins, Campbell County, Lovell, Sheridan, NSI, St. Stephens, Kelly Walsh, Wyoming Indian.

Of these, NSI, St. Stephens, Kelly Walsh and Wyoming Indian have scoreboard alignments that appear to be slightly angled to the home side, but not all that severely. Cokeville and Kaycee have scoreboards that are much closer to the home bench than the road bench, which is less common than the opposite.

2. Home-team benefitted, right side: Riverton, Lyman, Powell, Pinedale, Rocky Mountain, Green River, Burlington, Newcastle, Mountain View, Big Horn, Moorcroft, Snake River, Greybull, Encampment, Midwest, Southeast, Lingle, Riverside.

All of these scoreboards, except Riverside, are closer to the visitor bench than the home bench but angled to face toward the home bench — making it easier for the home team coaches to see the scoreboard than the road team. Riverside varies by being closer to the visitor bench but still perpendicular to the field.

3. VERY home-team benefitted, right side: Hulett, Worland.

4. Home-team benefitted, left side: Cheyenne Central, Wind River, Tongue River, Farson, Rock Springs.

5. Straight on, left side: Hanna, Pine Bluffs, Buffalo, Meeteetse, Cheyenne South, Douglas, Sundance, Big Piney, Wheatland, Shoshoni, Wright, Guernsey-Sunrise.

Hanna and Pine Bluffs, like Riverside, are perpendicular to the field but closer to the visitor bench.

6. Road-team benefitted, left side: Ten Sleep.

Ten Sleep has the only scoreboard in the state that is purposely skewed AGAINST the home team; the Pioneers’ scoreboard is built at almost a 45-degree angle facing the visitor’s bench. Maybe the Pioneers are trying to overcompensate for their Washakie County neighbors in Worland.

+++

As I looked at all the little lines I drew, a pattern I didn’t anticipate when I started became clear fast.

Almost three-quarters of scoreboards are on the right side in relation to the home stands and bench. In all, only 18 of the 65 Wyoming high school football fields (28%) have the scoreboards on the left side from the home bleachers, while 47 (72%) are on the right side from the home bleachers.

For a solid day, I couldn’t figure out why.

And then I had an epiphany: track.

Track straightaways tend to go in front of the “home” stands from left to right. Scoreboards tend to be on the same side as the finish lines.

That blew my mind; I’m 39 years old, and I had never critically thought about why scoreboards are where they are. Of course, scoreboard placement has nothing to do with trying to gain a home-field advantage.

The bigger epiphany: Scoreboards aren’t just about football. Most fields have multiple purposes, including track and often soccer, too. That got me thinking about scoreboard placement in general. Why do we put scoreboards where we do? Why do we put stadiums where we do? Why do we put anything where we do? Why do we do anything?

Then I came back down from my mania, refocused on scoreboards, and thought about who really uses scoreboards the most. Aren’t they really there for the fans? Isn’t that why so many of them are oriented to face the home stands — because that’s where most of the people sit? And… in some cases, like (get this) Worland, all the fans are on one side, because there are no road-side bleachers?

Maybe Worland’s scoreboard placement isn’t as odd, or as sinister, as I thought. Maybe it’s perfect: perfect for the fans, the group of people who will look at it the most. Maybe that should be the goal behind the design of a good stadium — one that creates an enjoyable time, something you want to repeat as often as possible. Maybe Worland’s weird scoreboard shouldn’t be so weird. Maybe it should be a trendsetter.

Maybe I’m reading too much into every single bit of this. If you made it this far, maybe you are, too. But the journey is a fun one, innit?

–patrick

Wyoming high school football stadiums if they were named like UK soccer stadiums, ranked

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One of the cooler things about soccer in the United Kingdom is how some of the stadiums are named. Places like Elland Road, Bramall Lane, Portman Road and others are named for the street or road they’re on rather than for some corporate sponsor, some dead person or some mascot.

I think that brings a certain amount of charm to the grounds — the name of the stadium is also how to get there. Quaint AND convenient.

If we were to do that for Wyoming high school football fields, the results would vary. Some stadiums would end up with really cool names. Others, as you’ll see, are worse off for shooting for this kind of quaintness.

Here’s how Wyoming football stadiums would be renamed with this occasionally used U.K. method, ranked from worst name to best name. As you’ll see, there is indeed one clear winner:

SchoolU.K. stadium name
LymanI-80 Business Loop
PowellRoad 8
Rocky MountainUS 310
FarsonHighway 28
Torrington25th Avenue
SundanceSixth Street
Snake RiverNorth Street
Ten SleepOld 10 Sleep Highway
NewcastleCasper Avenue
BuffaloMain Street
Cheyenne CentralEducation Drive
ThermopolisSenior Avenue
WrightWright Boulevard
CodyCody Avenue
Tongue RiverTongue River Road
Big PineyPiney Drive
Kelly WalshWalsh Drive
LuskPearl Street
LingleCanAm Highway
ShoshoniCalifornia Street
UptonBoundary Street
DouglasSonora Avenue
Rock SpringsJames Drive
SoutheastLacy Street
MeeteetseHayes Avenue
KayceeHolt Avenue
HannaHarrison Street
WheatlandRowley Street
DuboisCarson Street
RawlinsBrooks Street
Thunder BasinChristinck Avenue
HulettSager Avenue
MidwestEllison Avenue
Pine BluffsMaple Street
NatronaAsh Street
SaratogaElm Avenue
RivertonSunset Drive
LaramieBoulder Drive
CokevilleSage Street
WorlandWashakie Avenue
LanderTiger Drive
Wind RiverCougar Drive
GilletteCamel Drive
Star ValleyWarrior Way
GreybullRailroad Street
Mountain ViewRiver Bend Drive
PinedaleValley Road
EncampmentMacFarlane Avenue
JacksonGregory Lane
KemmererDel Rio Road
RiversideArlington Avenue
SheridanMydland Road
LovellGreat Western Avenue
MoorcroftLittle Horn Avenue
BurnsWyoming Avenue
GuernseyWyoming Avenue
EvanstonChamps Avenue
Big HornHigh Street
Cheyenne SouthAllison Road
St. StephensMission Road
Wyoming IndianBlue Sky Highway
Cheyenne EastForest Drive
Green RiverHitching Post Drive
BurlingtonFarmer Boulevard
GlenrockOregon Trail
NSILane Lane

Note: Some Wyoming football stadiums are bound on two, three or four sides by streets. I tried to pick the street closest to the stadium parking lot and/or the name that sounded the coolest.

–patrick

Lander schedules switch to artificial turf

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Lander will become the latest school to switch from grass to artificial turf on its football field.

County 10 reports the overhaul of Bill Bush Stadium will also include new lights and a new track in addition to the new playing surface. The report says the changes will be made in time for the start of the 2019 football season.

For more details on stadiums statewide, click here.

–patrick

Day games: A fading tradition in Wyoming high school football

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Entering the 2016 season, only 50 of Wyoming’s 65 high school football fields will have lights.

Of those 15 without lights, 10 stadiums belong to schools that play six-man football. The only 11-man programs without lights on their field are Mountain View, Lyman, Big Piney, Cokeville and Sundance — and Sundance won’t host any Upton-Sundance co-op home games this year as the field is rebuilt in a new location to make room for a new elementary school.

As more and more 11-man programs add lights, day games are becoming rarer and rarer as more schools opt for the Friday night lights.

Most of the schools playing day games this season are six-man schools. Ten Sleep is the only program in the state that will play every regular-season game in 2016 during daylight hours, and 14 of the 16 six-man programs will play at least half their games during the day.

Of 11-man programs, Cokeville’s seven day games is tops; Big Piney, Lyman and Mountain View will play five day games apiece. No other 11-man program will play more than half its games during the day. And 31 of Wyoming’s 64 programs will play all their games at night, including every 4A and 3A program.

Games were defined as day games if they started prior to 5 p.m. Zero Week scrimmages and jamborees of 4A weren’t considered.

Here are the schools playing at least one day game this regular season:

Ten Sleep: 8 day games
Burlington, Cokeville, Dubois, Farson, Hulett, Kaycee, Snake River: 7 day games
Normative Services, Rock River, St. Stephens: 6 day games
Big Piney, Hanna, Lyman, Mountain View: 5 day games
Guernsey-Sunrise, Meeteetse, Riverside: 4 day games
Lingle, Shoshoni: 3 day games
Greybull, Midwest, Pinedale, Rocky Mountain, Saratoga, Wyoming Indian: 2 day games
Glenrock, Kemmerer, Lovell, Newcastle, Tongue River, Upton-Sundance, Wright: 1 day game

Among those games are 10 games to be played in daylight hours at stadiums with lights. NSI is the leader here — only one of NSI’s four home games this year will be under the lights as the Wolves embrace the six-man day game tradition. Shoshoni will play a pair of home day games, while Guernsey-Sunrise, Riverside, Tongue River, Wyoming Indian and Rocky Mountain will each play a single day game despite having lights on their fields.

Want to see a full season schedule with kick times for every game? Click here.

Want to read up on Wyoming high school football stadiums? Click here.

–patrick

Wyoming high school football stadiums, ranked

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On Twitter and Facebook a while back, I asked question where answering the “what” was fairly easy but answering the “why” was quite a bit tougher:

What’s your favorite high school football stadium in Wyoming? And what’s your least favorite?

The answers varied widely; some people’s favorites were others’ least favorite. In the process, I learned quite a few tidbits about Wyoming’s high school football stadiums. So I decided to rank them, one to sixty-five.

Before we get into the list, let’s clarify: This is my list. It’s subjective. It’s faulty. In your mind, it’s probably wrong. You’re right. If I did this list again tomorrow, it’d probably come out different. But it’s my list. And I’m a sucker for:

  • mountains
  • stadiums built into the sides of hills or mountains
  • brick
  • concrete-anchored seating
  • trees and shrubs

And I hate:

  • aluminum bleachers
  • portable bleachers
  • portable aluminum bleachers

And I’m indifferent to:

  • the presence or absence of a track
  • the playing surface itself
  • the “tradition” of the team itself playing on the field

In short, I love stadiums that look like they are supposed to be there, and only there — that this little corner of the world was meant to be reserved for football. Permanence plays a big part in that. Stadiums that look permanent, with brick and concrete stands, specialized landscaping or earth moving and other buildings that appear to be built around the field, have a soft spot in my heart.

And, obviously, I despise the places that look replaceable — the stadiums that look like convenience and little else drove the selection; the stadiums that look like they could be picked up and moved and placed somewhere else in a matter of days; the stadiums that don’t speak to longevity or history.

Consequently, I hate a lot of new stadiums. They’re too new to have any character. They’re too cost-effective to have any sense of permanence. They’re too easy to mistake for another.

So here it is. Every Wyoming high school football field, ranked, with a lot of bias and personal experience and only a little research:

Gotta see before you die

1. Big Horn Field, Big Horn

2. Outlaw Stadium, Rawlins

3. Homer Scott Field, Sheridan

4. Puncher Stadium, Big Piney

5. Mike Moon Field, Buffalo

6. Longhorn Stadium, Meeteetse

7. Walt Gray Field, Tongue River

Pretty neat

8. Buffaloes Stadium, Greybull

9. Oiler Field, Midwest

10. Cheney Alumni Field, Natrona

11. Bearcat Stadium, Douglas

12. Red Devil Stadium, Hulett

13. Harry Geldien Stadium, Kelly Walsh

14. Sheldon Henderson Stadium, Glenrock

15. Rams Stadium, Dubois

16. Okie Blanchard Stadium, Cheyenne East

17. Miner Stadium, Hanna

18. Braves Field, Star Valley

19. Robert Hileman Field, Saratoga

20. B.F. Weaver Field, Upton

21. Korfanta Field, Pinedale

22. Kay Fackrell Stadium, Evanston

Somewhat memorable

23. LeRoy Sinner Field, Wind River

24. Wolves Stadium, Green River

25. Bill Bush Stadium, Lander

26. Deti Stadium, Laramie

27. William T. McIntosh Stadium, Jackson

28. Wolves Stadium, NSI

29. Ranger Stadium, Kemmerer

30. Tiger Stadium, Rock Springs

31. LeRoy Hayes Field, Thermopolis

32. Bronc Stadium, Burns

33. Spike Vannoy Field, Cody

34. Viking Stadium, Guernsey-Sunrise

35. Schoonmaker Field, Newcastle

36. Bulldog Stadium, Sundance

37. Riske Field, Cheyenne Central

38. Rebel Stadium, Riverside

39. Carlstrum Field, Pine Bluffs

40. Clarence Lammers Stadium, Mountain View

41. Buckaroo Stadium, Kaycee

42. Camel Stadium, Gillette

Definitely a football field

43. Warrior Stadium, Worland

44. Fullmer Stadium, Lusk

45. Panther Stadium, Powell

46. Rattler Field, Snake River

47. Bailey Field, Shoshoni

48. Wolverine Stadium, Riverton

49. Panther Field at Battlecat Stadium, Wright

50. Pioneers Stadium, Ten Sleep

51. Bulldog Stadium, Wheatland

52. Chiefs Intertribal Stadium, Wyoming Indian

53. Grizzly Stadium, Rocky Mountain

54. Wolves Field, Moorcroft

55. Kirk Field, Lingle

56. Bison Stadium, Cheyenne South

57. St. Stephens’ field, St. Stephens

58. Teeters Field, Southeast

59. Kevin P. Robertson Memorial Stadium, Lovell

60. Wiseman Field, Torrington

61. Rock River’s field, Rock River

62. Panther Field, Cokeville

63. Eagle Stadium, Lyman

64. Husky Stadium, Burlington

65. Big Sandy Park, Farson

–patrick

Wyoming high school football stadium capacities

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I posed a simple question on Twitter on Friday:

I asked the question because, honestly, I didn’t know the answer.

But I had a plan to find out, at least unofficially.

Now, after a few hours putting together some estimates, I have an answer — well, the best answer I can surmise up to now.

Unofficially, the Wyoming high school football stadiums with the highest capacity are Cheyenne South (about 4,096), Kelly Walsh (about 4,077), and Natrona (about 3,924). Cheyenne East also has a capacity of 4,000 in its stadium; East and South are expandable to capacities of 4,360.

Estimated capacities for most other stadiums in the state (that I could get capacity for) is less than 3,000, down to the smallest capacity stadium at Meeteetse (seating capacity 115).

How I calculated the capacities: Using satellite images from Google Maps, I looked at the seating for every stadium. I calculated the length (in yards) of each seating area at the stadium; I multiplied that number by 36 (number of inches in a yard) to get the total number of inches; I divided that number by 20 to figure out the number of available seats per row (average seat size in most major college and pro stadiums varies between 18-22 inches, so 20 seemed like a good compromise); I counted the number of rows in that seating area; finally, I multiplied the number of available seats per row by the number of rows to get the seating capacity for that seating area. Most stadiums have more than one seating area, so I repeated the process as many times as necessary for each stadium before adding all the capacities together.

Obviously, this method has its limitations. Two schools (Big Piney and Farson) couldn’t be included because the satellite imagery fell short for one reason or another. The images were also subject to time differences — for example, some teams use portable seating that’s only put out during the season. If those portable stands weren’t out when the satellite took the image flying over the town, then that added capacity wasn’t added to my total. The seating totals also don’t account for variations in aisles or for the presence or absence of portals.

For example, Meeteetse uses portable stands behind its visitor bench during the season. Those stands do not show up in Meeteetse’s Google Maps view of the stadium. Therefore, they weren’t counted — and Meeeteetse’s capacity of 115 people, the state’s “smallest,” is likely off by at least a couple dozen.

Other stadiums — such as Lyman and Shoshoni — had stands that washed out in the satellite imagery, and I had to use my best guess (based on depth of seating) as to the number of rows in a particular seating area.

Other stadiums — such as Burns and Cheyenne Central — have undergone renovations since the last time the satellites passed over town. The capacities shown here are for the stadiums prior to renovations (although Central’s updated capacity has since been provided).

And, of course, these capacities don’t account for standing room alongside the seating.

In short, these stadium capacities are my best guess with what I had available to me at the time: Google Maps satellite imagery on April 23, 2016. At best, they’re educated guesses. For smaller stadiums, seating capacities could be off by a few dozen; for larger stadiums, capacities could be off by as many as a couple hundred. Capacities could be even higher than this if people squeezed into 18 inches per seat instead of 20 inches.

It goes without saying, but, just in case you tl;dr: These capacities are unofficial. They’re a lot of fun, though…

Class 4A
Cheyenne South: 4,097 (capacity provided by school officials gave a capacity of 4,000; expandable to 4,360)
Kelly Walsh: 4,077
Cheyenne East: 4,000 (capacity provided by school officials, not by Google Maps estimate; expandable to 4,360)
Natrona: 3,924
Cheyenne Central: 1,458 (prior to addition of north stands; capacity provided by school officials after addition of north stands is 3,222, expandable to 3,582)
Rock Springs: 3,024
Laramie: 2,916
Gillette: 2,790
Sheridan: 2,462
Evanston: 1,688

Class 3A
Rawlins: 2,988
Green River: 2,952
Buffalo: 2,700
Worland: 2,534
Lander: 2,255
Powell: 2,106
Douglas: 2,052
Riverton: 2,009
Cody: 1,757
Torrington: 1,593
Star Valley: 1,190
Jackson: 806

Class 2A
Glenrock: 2,187
Lovell: 1,647
Thermopolis: 1,370
Kemmerer: 1,237
Wheatland: 1,123
Newcastle: 1,089
Pinedale: 819
Greybull: 810
Mountain View: 792
Lyman: 720
Big Horn: 630
Burns: 594 (prior to renovation last year)
Moorcroft: 423

Big Piney’s capacity could not be calculated; satellite photos showed the current Puncher Stadium under construction.

Class 1A 11-man
Pine Bluffs: 918
Tongue River: 853
Wright: 742
Rocky Mountain: 706
Upton: 518
Shoshoni: 454
Saratoga: 450
Lusk: 425
Sundance: 414
Southeast: 328
Wind River: 324
Wyoming Indian: 202
Cokeville: 162

Class 1A six-man
Guernsey-Sunrise: 860
NSI: 617
Lingle: 612
Riverside: 504
Burlington: 490
Hanna: 464
Midwest: 313
Dubois: 297
Snake River: 288
Hulett: 270
Kaycee: 225
Ten Sleep: 175
St. Stephens: 162
Rock River: 158
Meeteetse: 115

Farson’s capacity could not be calculated; temporary stands used on the field were not present in the satellite photo.

Other interesting stadium seating notes: The longest stands in the state belong at Cheney Alumni Field at Natrona, where the stadium seating stretches from goal line to goal line — 100 yards. Natrona’s stadium is the only one in the state with seating stretching from goal line to goal line. Laramie’s 90-yard seating stretch, from one 5-yard line to the other, was the second-longest. Green River’s unofficially stretches 82 yards, while Kelly Walsh, Rock Springs and Cody have stands that stretch from the 10 to the 10, or 80 yards. … The tallest stands are those in Rawlins, which unofficially stretch 26 rows high. Worland unofficially goes 22 rows high; Gillette, Lander and Rock Springs unofficially go 21 rows high; Buffalo, Douglas and Green River go 20 rows. … The smallest 11-man stadium is at Cokeville, which measured out to a seating capacity of 162.

Which stadium is your favorite? Your least favorite? Is it because of the seating? Leave your comment and let’s talk locales.

–patrick

Updated 7:45 a.m. April 28 to add Cheyenne East information, as well as info for other Cheyenne school stadiums. Thanks to David Bartlett for the help!

Building boom: More than a quarter of Wyoming high schools have new football facilities since 2007

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A new or rebuilt football field can be a uniting point for a community.

Repeat that effort over and over and over, at least 18 times, in a rural, spread-out state like Wyoming, and we not only have uniting points for communities but a trend that shows no signs of slowing.

Since 2007, 18 of Wyoming’s 65 high school football programs (64 plus one co-op) have had new or rebuilt facilities constructed. Nine stadiums have had lights added since 2009. And 21 programs statewide now have artificial turf.

Some are obvious: New six-man programs at Kaycee, Snake River and Farson (all 2009), St. Stephens (2011) and Rock River (2014, field built in 2012) all necessitated new facilities, as did the starting of Class 4A program Cheyenne South (2011).

But several other longstanding programs opened new facilities in new locations in the past 10 years: Cheyenne East and Kemmerer in 2014; Powell in 2012; Riverton in 2011; Rocky Mountain in 2010; Torrington and Upton in 2009; Buffalo and Saratoga in 2007.

In addition, several programs built basically new stadiums on top of their old facilities. Burns opened its new facility in 2015. Prior to that, Big Piney did so in 2014 and Big Horn in 2011.

Also, a handful of schools have added lights in the past 10 years. Moorcroft and Tongue River added lights for the 2015 season; prior to that, Big Horn and Kemmerer added lights in 2014 with their new facilities; Saratoga in 2012; Rocky Mountain in 2011; Upton and Pinedale in 2009; and Wind River in 2006 (damaged by wind but rebuilt for 2009).

With all these changes, only 15 Wyoming high school football fields are without lights in 2015. Nine of those 15 programs are in the six-man classification; the six 11-man programs without lights are Big Piney, Burlington, Cokeville, Lyman, Mountain View and Sundance. (Burlington will move to six-man in 2016.)

And, of course, let’s not forget that 21 schools now have an artificial surface, the bulk of those installed in the past decade. Southeast, which added a turf surface this summer, was Wyoming’s No. 21. Many of those updates, too, came with other cosmetic updates at several locations — things like new track surfaces, new jumping pits, new lights, new bleachers or new walkways were also a part of several of those projects.

For the future? Well, Laramie is building a new high school with a new stadium, set to open in the fall of 2016. Sundance is building a new elementary school on top of its current football field, which means that program, too, will need a new stadium at some point. Dubois, too, is set to open a new stadium next fall near its new school.

The list of stadiums that haven’t seen been moved, rebuilt or overhauled (artificial turf or light installation) in the past decade is pretty short: Evanston, Gillette and Kelly Walsh in 4A; Lander, Rawlins and Worland in 3A; Newcastle, Thermopolis, Wheatland, Wright, Greybull, Lovell, Lyman and Mountain View in 2A; Lingle, Pine Bluffs, Burlington, Cokeville, Riverside, Shoshoni and Wyoming Indian in 1A 11-man; and Guernsey, Hanna, Hulett, Midwest, NSI, Meeteetse and Ten Sleep in 1A six-man. That’s 28 of 65 — less than half. And many of these stadiums have had new grass, new bleachers or other new facilities added in the past decade without the work being a complete refurbishment of the entire stadium. (Although, admittedly, at some of these places, new bleachers alone is a refurbishment of the entire stadium.)

In short: Not many football fields in the state look like they did 10 years ago.

What changes have you seen in your community’s high school football stadium the past 10 years? Post a comment below if I’m missing something!

–patrick

Field elevation: Which classification plays closest to the heavens?

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The average Wyoming high school football field sits at 5,261 feet above sea level — just a shade less than a mile high.

But which schools consistently play at higher — or lower — elevation based on their conference affiliation?

Well, it’s no secret that Wyoming, in general, is higher on its western side and lower on its eastern side. In Class 3A, 2A, 1A 11-man and 1A six-man, the elevation of fields in West Conference schools is higher than that of East Conference schools.

The conference with the highest average elevation is the 2A West at 5,997 feet. But the 2A West also had the highest standard deviation measure, meaning the conference also had the most variability. Greybull, which has the lowest elevation of any 11-man field in the state, is in the 2A West.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the conference with the lowest average elevation — the 1A 11-man East at 4,462 feet — also had the lowest standard deviation.

Wyoming football field elevations by conference

ConferenceAverageStandard deviation
4A5,7531,028
3A East5,139913
3A West5,323954
2A East4,704480
2A West5,9971,503
1A 11-man East4,462424
1A 11-man West5,1261,023
1A six-man East5,0171,311
1A six-man West5,820975

The classification, though, with the highest average elevation is the big-school Class 4A at 5,753 feet. The classification with the lowest average elevation is 1A 11-man at 4,794 feet.

Wyoming football field elevations by classification

ClassificationAverageStandard Deviation
4A5,7531,028
3A5,231860
2A5,3511,265
1A 11-man4,794830
1A six-man5,3871,195

Pinedale’s field, at 7,198 feet, is the highest high school field in the state; Hulett, at 3,753 feet, is the lowest. And every high school field in Wyoming is lower than the University of Wyoming’s famous 7,220-feet War Memorial Stadium, where the state title games are played every November.

For elevations of every Wyoming high school football field, as well coordinates and maps (both for all classes and for each classification), click here.

–patrick

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