Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium
The Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium officially opened on campus September 1, 2008, when the Bensons joined with more than 2,000 Cardinals fans and athletes to declare the facility ready for action.
Benson and his family long have been ardent supporters of Incarnate Word. A San Antonian himself, Benson is the owner of professional football's New Orleans Saints.
Benson Stadium now has permanent seating for 6,000 spectators with the 2010 addition of the north bleachers. Atop the original south seating areas are skyboxes while the north side has the two-building media and game operations facilities including a permanent home for KUIW Internet Radio and UIWTV.
The playing area itself is artificial, Hellas Matrix. The stadium also is wide enough and long enough that the Cardinals soccer teams, men's and women's, have begun playing their games here.
An Olympic-standard running track will surround the football/soccer playing surface and will be all-weather in nature. Accompaning the track will be the requisite jumping and throwing areas.
Adjoining the football field is the Benson Fieldhouse of 16,000 square feet housing a weight room, athletic training facility, locker rooms meeting areas and coaches offices.
Mabry Tennis Center
The Clarence Mabry Tennis Center on the UIW campus is a fully equipped facility with eight courts, four lighted for night play. Named for longtime San Antonio tennis coach and Texas Tennis Hall of Famer, the center has been home to highly successful Crusader teams including the NAIA national singles and doubles champions of 1993.
All eight courts have Lykold surfaces and each has its own cabanas with awnings for the players comfort during sunny South Texas matches. Additionally, during a spring 2000 refurbishing all eight courts received new nets and wind screens which completely surround the facility.
The Mabry Center can accommodate up to 500 tennis fans for matches. The permanent bleacher seating is located in a patio area between the eight courts. These seats are covered.
The Center also has office space for the coaches and a lounge area for the players. At the east end of the complex are restrooms for fans and players.
Located adjacent to the Crusader Soccer Field, the Mabry Center is immediately across the parking lot from the McDermott Center and the new natatorium.
McDermott Center
The Alice P. McDermott Convocation Center opened on the UIW campus in the fall of 1989. Since that time, the Cardinals have played 151 games in the building named for the late Alice McDermott, a longtime supporter of education in San Antonio and South Texas.
A focal point for the University's athletic complex, the building will seat 2,000 spectators for basketball and volleyball, including four rows of theater-style chair seats. There is office space for the men's and women's basketball coaches as well as office space for their entire staffs.
On the west end of the Center, there are four locker rooms, a training room, and a fully-equipped weight training room.
The main entrance to the facility includes a permanent concession stand surrounded by trophy cases to house the multiple awards accrued by the Cardinals over the years.
Upstairs, the Gorman-Mitchell Room is a comfortable setting to accommodate up to 200 persons for meetings. With its own kitchen facilities, this room has a balcony which overlooks the campus to the east, just across the headwaters of the San Antonio River.
Sullivan Field
Daniel Sullivan Field was officially dedicated April 8, 1989, when Cardinals baseball benefactor Sullivan and Hall of Fame slugger Billy Williams cut the ribbon and proclaimed the field open for business. As an aside, the Cardinals beat St. Mary's that day 5-2 in a Heart of Texas Conference game.Sullivan Field lays on the western side of the Cardinals athletic complex. With permanent seating for some 1,000 Cardinals fans, the facility is complete with concrete dugouts, and a solid wooden fence. In deep right centerfield, atop the fence, is the fully electronic scoreboard.Dimensions for Sullivan Field are 335 down the leftfield line, 407 feet to straight away center, and 335 down the rightfield line. The playing surface is Tiff 419 grass. The field is overseeded with PHD (rye and fescue) for winter play. A wooded area completely surrounds the outfield fence and provides a near perfect batters background.Located immediately behind the Cardinals third base dugout is an indoor batting facility. Also adjacent to the home dugout is a regulation-sized infield with grass surface to accommodate the Cardinals as they work on their fielding skills.Sullivan Field shares a full-service concession stand along with rest room facilities with the Cardinals softball field.In the fall of 2003, eight light poles were erected making Sullivan Field fully ready for night play.
Soccer Practice Fields
Among the newest additions to the Incarnate Word athletic complex are two regulation-sized soccer training fields. Located west of Sullivan Field for baseball, the soccer training sites were proclaimed ready for use in the spring of 2000.
Surrounded on all sides by a natural forested area, the site for practice purposes could be divided into three fields. By utilizing this area as two regulation soccer fields, the University is prepared to host soccer tournaments at all levels, national and international.
This two-tiered area is covered with hybrid Baby Bermuda grass, and has its own irrigation system. As are all outdoor facilities at Incarnate Word, these fields will be overseeded with a combination of rye and fescue for winter play.
Track and Field
In the spring of 2002 Cardinals track and field athletes, and for that matter all UIW personnel and members of the surrounding community, walked onto a completely refurbished track.With the eight-lane track itself resurfaced with Tartan, the Cardinals for the first time had a permanent place to train fulltime, year round. And that training at home has paid off with three athletes to date qualifying for the NCAA Division II National Championships.
And not, things have only gotten better with the opening of Benson Stadium. Included in the Benson complex is the all-weather track, bigger, better and greatly improved.
Cardinals Field--Softball
This is another facility in the Incarnate Word athletic complex which came ready for use in the late 1980s. In the winter of 2001-2002, the field was lighted for night play for the first time. Plus, that project moved the fences to 200 feet down both foul lines and 210 feet to straightaway center field. Cardinals Field for softball in the last decade-plus has hosted numerous tournaments at all levels including the annual UIW Alamo Invitation which attracts more than 20 top collegiate teams from around the nation.
With permanent seating to accommodate 250 fans, the field is situated in a way that tailgating around the outfield fence has become a Cardinals tradition. The field is immediately adjacent to the McDermott Center.
There is an electronic scoreboard behind the leftfield wall, and the field has a wooden fence. Both teams are housed in full-sized, enclosed dugouts, and the Cardinals dugout along third base line has a storage unit attached. Cardinals Field for softball shares a building with Sullivan Field (baseball) which houses a fully equipped concession stand and restrooms.
The field itself is covered with common Bermuda grass, and like other outdoor facilities at UIW is overseeded with a combination of rye and fescue for winter play. A naturally wooded area beyond the outfield fence provides an excellent hitting background during games.
Ann Barshop Natatorium
The newest and brightest of athletic facilities at UIW is the Ann Barshop Natatorium. Construction began in June of 2000 and the formal dedication was held on October 11, 2001.
The pool itself...25 yards east to west, 25 meters north to south to host both national and international events...is located on the second level of the building. This permits a stunning panoramic view of the Incarnate Word campus.
In addition to the pool and diving well, the building has office space for members of the Cardinals athletic department. And, there is space for a UIW athletic Hall of Honor which is in the planning stages.
Other areas will be used for classrooms, locker rooms, a training facility and storage space.
