Harder Stadium


Harder Stadium

34.4198025, -119.8536778



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34.4198025, -119.8536778

Harder Stadium is a 17,000 seat, outdoor multi-purpose stadium on the campus of UC Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California. Harder Stadium sees most of its present day use as a soccer stadium to the UCSB men’s soccer and women’s soccer teams. Most recently, this stadium was chosen by the NCAA to host the 2010 Men’s College Cup.

The Santa Ynez Mountains can be seen to the north and southerly breezes from the Pacific Ocean can be felt while enjoying an event at the stadium. The stadium was built in 1966 and is named after Theodore “Spud” Harder, a former coach of the Gauchos’ football team. The football team played its home games at Harder Stadium until the sport was discontinued after the 1992 season.

Due to its large capacity, Harder Stadium is an ideal venue for professional teams to use for exhibition matches. In 1991, the US Women’s National Team (with former Gaucho Carin Jennings) made an appearance right before it went off to China to win the 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Not to be outdone, the US Men’s National Team made an appearance in 1994 against the Romanian National Team. Club teams also join the ranks of squads that have played at Harder Stadium. In 2004, the San Jose Earthquakes and Los Angeles Galaxy played a preseason MLS exhibition match in Santa Barbara.