# High School Football Stadiums



## Commandant (Aug 25, 2009)

Post pictures of High School Football Stadiums from anywhere in the United States (plus Canada, Japan, and Mexico).

Jones Stadium, El Paso & Cathedral High Schools, El Paso, Texas









Stadium Bowl, Stadium High School, Tacoma, Washington









Rockne Stadium, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, Illinois









Jorndt Field, Amundsen High School, Winnemac Park, Chicago, Illinois


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## Commandant (Aug 25, 2009)

Ratliff Stadium, Permian High School & Odessa High School, Odessa, Texas









Grande Communications Stadium, Robert E. Lee High School & Midland High School, Midland, Texas









Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, Massillon Washington High School, Massillon, Ohio


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## westsidebomber (Feb 5, 2009)

Tom Ballaban Field at St. Xavier Stadium. Cincinnati, Ohio. Home of the St. Xavier Bombers. Seats 6,500 (4,500 home, 2,000 away) and holds 8,000.


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## JJG (Aug 4, 2010)

Dragon Stadium (Southlake Carroll High/Southlake, TX)










Jack Rhodes Memorial Stadium (Katy High/Katy, TX)










Waller I.S.D. Stadium (Waller High/Waller, TX)










Maverick Stadium (UTA/Arlington, TX)











The last one is actually a college stadium, but c'mon, UTA hasn't had a football team since before I was born and no one but Arlington high schools use it.


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## Anubis2051 (Jan 28, 2010)

The amount of attention given to High School football in some parts of this country is insane. These kids are 14-18 years old, and some towns are spending millions on these stadiums. Completely ridiculous. hno:

Where I went to high school (New Jersey) the students parents showed up, some of the students not on the team (who spent most of their time hanging out with their friends), and that was it. In texas, these teams have legitimate fans. Sickening.


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## Darloeye (Jun 15, 2010)

^^^^ You should see the Football Fields (Soccer) I played on for my school team.


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## Scba (Nov 20, 2004)

I'm still angry about high school stadiums ruining worldstadiums.com.


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## JJG (Aug 4, 2010)

Anubis2051 said:


> The amount of attention given to High School football in some parts of this country is insane. These kids are 14-18 years old, and some towns are spending millions on these stadiums. Completely ridiculous. hno:
> 
> Where I went to high school (New Jersey) the students parents showed up, some of the students not on the team (who spent most of their time hanging out with their friends), and that was it. In texas, these teams have legitimate fans. Sickening.




You live in the north. I'm sure you grew up in the north. So simply, you just don't understand how it is. Just like I don't see why northerners feel that a city HAS to be defined by having nearly all its people elbow to elbow, stacked on top of each other in the center of the city, or just like how Europeans find it strange that our stadiums don't have roofs (I'M NOT TRYING TO START SOMETHING, just pointing it out...).

What you see as "sickening", is viewed as boys having 4 years moment of glory... unless the team sucks. There's sevral bad deals and courption behind Texas High School football, yes, but the same can be said about most anything in sports. Even at school level.


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## Commandant (Aug 25, 2009)

Anubis2051 said:


> The amount of attention given to High School football in some parts of this country is insane. These kids are 14-18 years old, and some towns are spending millions on these stadiums. Completely ridiculous.


Do you support communities spending millions on minor league baseball stadiums? Most (if not all) of the new High School stadiums are used year-round by multiple teams from different sports (football, lacrosse, and soccer), minor league ballparks are rarely shared. Also these High School Stadiums are used by more than one school, and the teams that occupy these stadiums won't threaten to leave after 10-15 years if they don't get a new stadium. So which one would be a better investment for your community; a million dollar facility for high school sports or a million dollar facility for a professional team?


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## KingmanIII (Aug 25, 2008)

Cypress-Fairbanks' (Cy-Fair) Berry Center stadium and arena in suburban Houston:


































Round Rock (TX) ISD's athletic complex:


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## KingmanIII (Aug 25, 2008)

Jenks' (Tulsa) Hunter-Dwelley Stadium and Robert L. Sharp Health and Fitness Center:
http://jenkstrojanfootball.com/end_zone_plans.html


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## weava (Sep 8, 2007)

HS basketball can be just as crazy. I've been to HS games with over 8,000 in attendance.


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## JYDA (Jul 14, 2008)

KingmanIII said:


> Cypress-Fairbanks' (Cy-Fair) Berry Center stadium and arena in suburban Houston:


My GOD!!!! That can not be a high school gym


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## koolio (Jan 5, 2008)

Majority of Canadian universities don't have stadiums like this. Quite amazing I must say. My highschool "stadium" was two temporary stands with maximum capacity of about 150 people each side of the 55 yard line.


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## en1044 (May 4, 2008)

My high school!


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## Scba (Nov 20, 2004)

My high school stadium only seats about 1,100 and is lucky to fill it halfway. When I went there a few years earlier, we didn't even have a stadium, just a lumpy field with bleacher racks.


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## Commandant (Aug 25, 2009)

My old stomping grounds (It didn't look this good when I was there; I heard it was partially condemned in 2007):

Lane Stadium, Lane Technical High School, Chicago, Illinois


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## Liam0711 (Sep 3, 2007)

*Calvert Hall College High School - Towson, Maryland*

Paul Angelo Russo Stadium - Capacity - 3,000

Sports: Football, Lacrosse, Soccer, Track, Rugby.




























Carlo Crispino Stadium - Capacity - 350

Sports: Baseball, JV Soccer.


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## carnifex2005 (May 12, 2010)

Might as well post this here again...

News from Apr 2010 but here's a story about a new high school football stadium that will cost $60 million dollars and will seat 18,000. I wonder if this will be the beginning of an arms race of trying to further monetizing high school sports just like the NCAA does.

The new stadium will feature:

* Video Scoreboard
* Two level press box with film deck and Observation deck
* Home side reserved seating with seat backs
* 1,5000 additional parking spaces with 4,500 total parking spaces
* 18,000 seat Stadium with upper deck seating including:
o 5,000 reserved seating,
o 2,700 General Admission
o 4,000 Students
o 5,300 Visitor
o 1,000 Band





























Here's a pdf with more information and renders.
And here's a further update from the NY Times in Jan, 2011 on the construction of the stadium.


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## westsidebomber (Feb 5, 2009)

The Pit, Cincinnati, Ohio. Home of the Elder High School Panthers. Capacity of 10,000. Built way back in 1947 by the students of the high school.



















Here's a good article on what The Pit means to Elder.

http://coachesaid.com/Article/2009/9/14/The-Pit-is-the-place-to-be-at-Elder


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## Scba (Nov 20, 2004)

Calvert Hall is crazy, don't 100+ kids go out for baseball there?


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## Hia-leah JDM (May 7, 2007)

en1044 said:


> My high school!


I'm sure this is how most of our stadiums looked like. Mine was just a little bigger. Only game that people actually went to was homecoming games and that was more of a socializing event where people hardly payed attention to the game.
But that was just my school. Florida can be pretty loyal to their high school football teams. Every small town and large city has their schools with a real following.


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## Archbishop (Aug 18, 2009)

westsidebomber said:


> Tom Ballaban Field at St. Xavier Stadium. Cincinnati, Ohio. Home of the St. Xavier Bombers. Seats 6,500 (4,500 home, 2,000 away) and holds 8,000.


This is my personal favorite that I've been to. My high school, although the best HS football program in the state, did not have a home stadium. It was a downer sometimes.


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## Commandant (Aug 25, 2009)

Although this is a collegiate facility, the Tigres Juvenil, a public high school associated with Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, use this facility:

Estadio Gaspar Mass, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico


In Mexico, more specifically the National Student High School Football League, all of the teams are affiliated with local colleges. The High School games are played in the spring, and the college teams play in the fall.


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## JJG (Aug 4, 2010)

JYDA said:


> My GOD!!!! That can not be a high school gym


It's for all high schools in the Cypress, Texas area. I'm only 20 miles away from it and I go to that town for everything (since nothing is here where I currently am) but I haven't seen it up close yet. 

There's another one like it in Katy (also suburban Houston) and it even hosts the Southland Conference tournament games.


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

Jessie H. Owens complex - Ellis Davis Fieldhouse and Kincaide Stadium - Dallas, TX


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## TheKorean (Apr 11, 2010)

Am I the only one who sees how wrong it is to spend millions on these facilities while students who study cant get that millions of dollars on new books, equipments etc?

Unless you can honestly tell me they can raise money by high school sports spectators alone.


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

TheKorean said:


> Am I the only one who sees how wrong it is to spend millions on these facilities while students who study cant get that millions of dollars on new books, equipments etc?
> 
> Unless you can honestly tell me they can raise money by high school sports spectators alone.


These are usually built with bond money(meaning the area voted on the use of bonds) and maintained by booster club and stadium revenues from season tickets, concessions and video board ad revenue. Playoff games are especially huge money makers. Texas schools are funded from totally different sources.


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

Always though this was one of the more aesthetically pleasing stadiums in Texas.

Vernon Newsom Stadium(Mansfield, TX)


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## SoroushPersepolisi (Apr 17, 2010)

WOW. some of these are huge asss stadiums, they can go for professional arenas. btw how many schools (percentage) have such facilities, and by average whats the highschool population in the us? like how many students per school? cause these are pretty huge places


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## Benn (Jan 10, 2007)

These would be pretty exceptional through most of the country, though more common in Texas and the like. My high school (of about 2,100 students) for instance has a stadium that seats about 2,400 with a track, lights, scoreboard and minimal facilities. The gym seats about 1,200, which would be more common for many schools.


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## irving1903 (Nov 25, 2006)

I wouldn't say our high school stadium was anything fancy but it was always the place to be every friday night in the fall  

Irving Schools Stadium - Irving Texas - shared by Irving HS, Irving Nimitz, & Irving MacArthur

http://www.texasbob.com/stadium/stadium.php?id=263


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## Scba (Nov 20, 2004)

Benn said:


> These would be pretty exceptional through most of the country, though more common in Texas and the like. My high school (of about 2,100 students) for instance has a stadium that seats about 2,400 with a track, lights, scoreboard and minimal facilities. The gym seats about 1,200, which would be more common for many schools.


The same here in the Mid-Atlantic, with the exception of several private-school powerhouses. High school football is just part of the culture in Texas, as it is in some places in California, the Southeast, PA/OH.


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## WeimieLvr (May 26, 2008)

Valdosta High School, Valdosta GA...the winningest high school football program in the nation.

Cleveland Field, capacity 11,200








http://www.valdostafootball.com/stadium.asp


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## JJG (Aug 4, 2010)

rantanamo said:


> Always though this was one of the more aesthetically pleasing stadiums in Texas.
> 
> Vernon Newsom Stadium(Mansfield, TX)


Ah, I hate lookin' at that stadium. 

Everytime I played there, we'd get our asses handed to us.... (North Crowley '07)


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## RaiderATO (Jan 6, 2010)

SoroushPersepolisi said:


> ... and by average whats the highschool population in the us? like how many students per school? cause these are pretty huge places


This is my alma mater in Georgia, Milton High School. This is a more typical size, although it is probably much nicer than the average (and still not near as nice as these TX stadiums).










The school changed locations and facilities recently after I graduated. The new stadium is about 1/2 the size of the old one (a poor decision IMO since we'd be at ~50% capacity for years of mediocrity, and over capacity for our main rivalry game.) Both sets of stands are built into hills.

I graduated in a class of 700. There have been more schools constructed since then, so I'd assume the school has 2,500+ enrolled.


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## Bobby3 (Jun 26, 2007)

The stadium at my old school sits 3,100 and sometimes has games cancelled because of "excessive amounts of goose excrement on the playing surface". Usually more geese than people at the stadium anyway, probably one of the few schools where soccer outdraws football because the football team likes to go on several year long losing streaks (49 is their record, it was 50 something but another team cheated so we were retroactively given a win).

The Triad has some pretty big stadiums though.


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

Waco ISD Stadium


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

Midway Panthers Stadium (near Waco)


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## mattec (Aug 2, 2009)

My HS in WV had about 1800 students when I was there and an 8000 - 9000 seat stadium, which was usually filled around 60 - 75% except for my freshman year when we were really good and it was more like 90% and my junior year when we were really bad and it was more like 45%. 

The BBall team plays at a city owned arena which seats around 5000 and its usually a near sellout since the team is alway a state title contender.


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## Liam0711 (Sep 3, 2007)

Scba said:


> Calvert Hall is crazy, don't 100+ kids go out for baseball there?


Probably a little more than that...the baseball park is insane...truthfully I wish they would have went with natural grass, but they have limited space for athletics so that's why they went with the field turf.


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## Bobby3 (Jun 26, 2007)

I think Crystal Palace Baltimore played their swan song matches at Calvert Hall, it's a fine, fine facility.


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## WeimieLvr (May 26, 2008)

Some relevant information...the ten largest high school football stadiums in the U.S.
http://www.mademan.com/mm/10-largest-high-school-football-stadiums.html


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## Otto Racecar (Jan 13, 2011)

One thing to consider is that some of these stadiums are the homefields for multiple high schools and even colleges.I always try to determine how many schools actually play there and if it was built with multiple schools in mind.


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

Otto Racecar said:


> One thing to consider is that some of these stadiums are the homefields for multiple high schools and even colleges.I always try to determine how many schools actually play there and if it was built with multiple schools in mind.


Some yes, most, absolutely not. Most are 1 or 2 schools. I usually post the multi-school ones because its easier to keep up with, but the vast majority of the nice new stadiums are in larger 1 or 2 high school districts. You'll also find that its rare that a college plays at these newer stadiums. Older ones like A&M Commerce, Midwestern State, Tarleton and Huntsville share, but those wouldn't be considered anywhere near new or as one of the top stadiums in Texas. These are high school stadiums 99% of the time.


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

Midlothian Stadium(southern Dallas burb)




























small, but good aerial










and their little arena attached to the stadium


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## Otto Racecar (Jan 13, 2011)

Here is Fawcett Stadium in Canton,Ohio which seats 22,375.Fawcett Stadium is situated next to the pro football hall of fame but was built in 1938 long before the Hall of Fame was constructed. Canton City Schools owns the stadium as it was originally built for McKinley high school. Currently Canton McKinley and Tinken high schools as well as NAIA colleges Malone and Walsh play there.The pro football hall of fame conducts its enshrinement ceremonies here each year and the NFL plays its first preseason game of the year here as well. Half of the divisions of the ohio high school football state championships are played here each year as well.


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

Denton ISD Stadium - Denton, Tx

This is one of the large, multi-team stadiums hosting 3 high schools. Not as elaborate as others, but the facilities there are among the nicest.


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## slipperydog (Jul 19, 2009)

Midland has a pretty nice stadium if I remember correctly. Pretty new too


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## TheKorean (Apr 11, 2010)

rantanamo said:


> These are usually built with bond money(meaning the area voted on the use of bonds) and maintained by booster club and stadium revenues from season tickets, concessions and video board ad revenue. Playoff games are especially huge money makers. Texas schools are funded from totally different sources.


Oh, good.


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## SoroushPersepolisi (Apr 17, 2010)

Benn said:


> These would be pretty exceptional through most of the country, though more common in Texas and the like. My high school (of about 2,100 students) for instance has a stadium that seats about 2,400 with a track, lights, scoreboard and minimal facilities. The gym seats about 1,200, which would be more common for many schools.





Scba said:


> The same here in the Mid-Atlantic, with the exception of several private-school powerhouses. High school football is just part of the culture in Texas, as it is in some places in California, the Southeast, PA/OH.





RaiderATO said:


> This is my alma mater in Georgia, Milton High School. This is a more typical size, although it is probably much nicer than the average (and still not near as nice as these TX stadiums).
> 
> 
> 
> ...





mattec said:


> My HS in WV had about 1800 students when I was there and an 8000 - 9000 seat stadium, which was usually filled around 60 - 75% except for my freshman year when we were really good and it was more like 90% and my junior year when we were really bad and it was more like 45%.
> 
> The BBall team plays at a city owned arena which seats around 5000 and its usually a near sellout since the team is alway a state title contender.


damn, these are huge ass facilities styll, in toronto we the university campus has something like that but schools just have a field and a indoor arena with maybe 300-400 seats.

the most populated school ive been to has like 3000 students


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## Hia-leah JDM (May 7, 2007)

SoroushPersepolisi said:


> the most populated school ive been to has like 3000 students


Most schools in large cities hover around 2,000. But a 5,000 student body is not as rare as you might think.


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## Commandant (Aug 25, 2009)

The Massillon Tigers built a $6 million, 80,000 square foot indoor practice facility. It's the first indoor practice facility built by a high school team in Ohio. Massillon's Paul L. David Athletic Training Center was built by local businessman Jeff David in honor of his late father. The $3 million facility is part of a larger $6 million "DREAM project" that will include an 18,000-square-foot sports medicine building. Fortunately for local taxpayers, the project is being privately funded by the Paul & Carol David Foundation. Last year the foundation awarded 80 scholarships to Massillon students. The 80,000 square foot building is actually 20,000-square-feet bigger than the indoor facility used by the NFL's Cleveland Browns. Then there's the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals.

"Massillon High School is ahead of us," Bengals owner Mike Brown, the oldest son of Paul Brown, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer when asked about the indoor facility. "We don't have one."


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## Bobby3 (Jun 26, 2007)

Most professional football teams from any code would be very, very proud to have a facility of that caliber. Incredible.


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

Pretty much ever high school in the northern Dallas suburbs has an indoor facility and ridiculous weight and training facilities. Places like Plano, Allen, Southlake Carroll and Coppell have had them for years. A lot has changed since I played.

Highland Park









Princeton High School









Allen High School(the one building the ridiculous stadium)











back to stadiums

Northwest ISD Stadium - Justin, TX, DFW suburb


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

Wilkerson-Sanders Memorial Stadium - Rockwall, TX - DFW Suburbs


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## Bobby3 (Jun 26, 2007)

My old school's football and soccer teams practice on a flood plain between the baseball field and stadium .

Highland's facility is probably the size of our school.


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## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

koolio said:


> Majority of Canadian universities don't have stadiums like this. Quite amazing I must say. My highschool "stadium" was two temporary stands with maximum capacity of about 150 people each side of the 55 yard line.


My high school (Halifax West High School, Nova Scotia, Canada) didn't have a proper stadium, but uses bleachers. They hold maybe 1000 people tops, but the facilities are quite good. It's one massive field covered in Field Turf that has markings for 3 soccer fields one after the other. The markings for 1 football field are painted over one of the soccer fields. 

Halifax West High doesn't have anything like what exists in Texas, but we do have tennis courts and a duck pond. There's a neighbourhood recreation centre being built next to the school, so they'll have use of a brand new 25 metre pool too. It's quite a big jock school, so this stuff was long over due.

The Moncton Purple Knights (Moncton, New Brunswick) probably get the biggest crowds for any high school in Canada's Maritimes provinces. They had a crowd topping 3,000 last year and school enrollment of 1,200; not bad! 3,000 isn't big compared to some US high schools, but quite big for a Canadian high school. Couldn't find any good pics, sorry!


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## magic_johnson (Jun 20, 2009)

Shite, never knew how extensive these US "football" stadiums are... 
To put it in some perspective, i'm an Australian high school student and there are about 180 people in my year level. This is more than most schools. Very few schools feature an expansive sports program, only the very elite ones. If you play a sport here, you play for your local suburb rather than school. 
Although, my school did recently spend ~$6m on a gym, however most of the price comes from the electronic retractable seats holding 1,300 people to turn the gym into a hall hno: There are no seats to even watch sport from...


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## TheKorean (Apr 11, 2010)

rantanamo said:


> Jessie H. Owens complex - Ellis Davis Fieldhouse and Kincaide Stadium - Dallas, TX


They should start booking concerts and shows there, more money.


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## aucina (Nov 8, 2007)

Dear god, you have a highschool footbal stadiums on a professional level!! Incredible!

I read that university football is the most viewed sport ( visitors ) in the USA, but this is incredible. It can stand next to a lot of European football (your soccer) leagues in infrastructure.


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## vanbasten88 (Sep 22, 2009)

isaidso said:


> High schools in Australia don't compete against each other? What about pools? I know swimming is a big sport in your country.


I've been out of HS for a while now(34yo) but in my time, we had intra-school events. Most schools are divided up into 4 houses(red, yellow, green and blue - usually named after famous alumi) and each school will have a "sports day" and perhaps a "swimming carnival" where the house with the most points "wins" the day. As most schools don't have their own facilities, the students will be bused to a local community athletics stadium for "sports day" or community aquatic complex for "Swimming carnival"
At my school [a small to mid sized private catholic high school] we had school teams for Soccer and Australian Rules Football(Winter) and Cricket in Summer who would play other similarly sized private schools(private = not govt funded), but it is very rare the student body would take an interest in these events - Hell I don't even think we had team nicknames or an official school mascot. I don't know what the public schools(govt funded) do/did, but I imagine it isn't much different. I do remember the First XI being presented their uniform Soccer shirt (with a special school jumper to be worn with our school uniform at a school assembly once trials and selection had taken place, but I never saw other students at our games. Its the weekend and they had better things to do I imagine. 
We were just referred to as the "Insert School name First XI"(11 = soccer)[i.e the St Joseph's* First XI] through to the fourth XI and the "School Name" First, Second or Third XVIII (18 = Australian Rules Footy[ARF]). At games it was mostly just friends and family in attendance. The bigger private schools certainly have their own gymnasiums and athletic facilities paid for by wealthy donors and/or high annual 'tuition' fees. If you are any good at sport here, you play for a local community based club and it is in this way that you are selected for higher honours such as zone representative teams(city North, city south etc) then state rep teams. For ARF, the state teams lead into the state based minor leagues, from which you can be drafted into the AFL. For Soccer, the state based minor league teams act as feeders into the A-League, but there is no formal draft in Soccer, just scouting. Hence the current AFC player of the year Sasa Ognenovski was playing in the level below the A-League only 3 years ago before being 'discovered' and signed by Brisbane Roar FC. He transferred to Adelaide United FC (my team) before being sold to Seongnam Ilwa(sp?) in the Korean K-League last year. He has since made his debut for the senior men's team, the Socceroos and was a fixture in the defence that came runners up to Japan in the last Asian cup (in Qatar2011) Basically school sports play second fiddle to local community based sporting clubs in most if not all sports in Australia. Thus High Schools just don't have a need for opulent and/or extravagant facilities here. The local City Councils(roughly county equivalents) develop and maintain sports facilities for community clubs to use as part of their remit to provide recreation facilities to their communities.

*not my school name


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## eMKay (Feb 2, 2007)

All High Stadium - Bennett High School, Buffalo, NY

I was there watching a semi-pro soccer game, so that explains the small crowd. On Friday nights this place rocks. Part of the film "The Natural" were filmed here before it was renovated.


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## mvictory (Jul 27, 2009)

isaidso said:


> High schools in Australia don't compete against each other? What about pools? I know swimming is a big sport in your country.


I dont know where some people on here are from in Aus but I can vouch that Australian schools do compete in many sports. e.g. Rowing, Footy, Cricket, Rugby, Swimming, Tennis, Football, Athletics, skiing, table tennis and just about every other sport are competitive at inter school level. 
It is amazing to see the level of facilities which some American schools have for sport. When I was at School I think it is probably safe to say that my school had the most extensive facilities in the state (Footy/Cricket ovals, aths track, football pitches, rugby ground, 50m indoor swimming pool, Boat sheds, gym, etc..) but nothing on the same level as the professional looking stadiums shown here. But I can't help but think it is all a MASSIVE waste of money, especially for such a boring sport (waits to get head blown off.... but you know its true).


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## eMKay (Feb 2, 2007)

mvictory said:


> I dont know where some people on here are from in Aus but I can vouch that Australian schools do compete in many sports. e.g. Rowing, Footy, Cricket, Rugby, Swimming, Tennis, Football, Athletics, skiing, table tennis and just about every other sport are competitive at inter school level.
> It is amazing to see the level of facilities which some American schools have for sport. When I was at School I think it is probably safe to say that my school had the most extensive facilities in the state (Footy/Cricket ovals, aths track, football pitches, rugby ground, 50m indoor swimming pool, Boat sheds, gym, etc..) but nothing on the same level as the professional looking stadiums shown here. But I can't help but think it is all a MASSIVE waste of money, especially for such a boring sport (waits to get head blown off.... but you know its true).


Is a waste of money because you think it's boring? Don't be ignorant.


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## CVTower (Dec 6, 2010)

Commandant said:


> Balboa Stadium, San Diego High School, San Diego, California


Just for the record, Balboa Stadium was at one point, the first home of the San Diego Chargers




























The current stadium


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## mvictory (Jul 27, 2009)

eMKay said:


> Is a waste of money because you think it's boring? Don't be ignorant.


No, it's a waste of money because schools do not need that kind of venue and I personally believe that funds could be spent better, especially after meeting some of the Americans I have (just so you know that is not a swing at America, I do realise that you have some of the smartest people in the world but from my experience you also have some of the dumbest, I remember in the US being asked how long it took to drive from Australia). Just my opinion.


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## Welkin (Sep 3, 2010)

mvictory said:


> No, it's a waste of money because schools do not need that kind of venue and I personally believe that funds could be spent better, especially after meeting some of the Americans I have (just so you know that is not a swing at America, I do realise that you have some of the smartest people in the world but from my experience you also have some of the dumbest, I remember in the US being asked how long it took to drive from Australia). Just my opinion.


Most of the schools don't pay for these top-notch facilities. They are built and paid for by booster groups and wealthy alumni. Also, if you high school is drawing 10,000 fans for a football game, five times a year, that's over $250,000 to the school's athletic budget (not to mention all the money they make off of concessions). These schools have big facilities because they make big money for the school. Nobody would build these stadiums if only a couple hundred fans show up. In many American towns, the entire town shuts down for Friday night and everyone is at the football game. High School football games are a major part of the American cultural scene.


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## rantanamo (Sep 12, 2002)

mvictory said:


> No, it's a waste of money because schools do not need that kind of venue and I personally believe that funds could be spent better, especially after meeting some of the Americans I have (just so you know that is not a swing at America, I do realise that you have some of the smartest people in the world but from my experience you also have some of the dumbest, I remember in the US being asked how long it took to drive from Australia). Just my opinion.


Sorry, but that's a big swing at Americans and I really resent it.


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## 8th Street Tavern (Dec 1, 2008)

Those high school basketball gyms in Texas are incredible! There are NCAA Division I schools that don't have anything close to a facility like that. No wonder Texas produces a great number of Division I athletes every year. It's hard to compete against schools with facilities like that.


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## corredor06 (Oct 13, 2008)

8th Street Tavern said:


> Those high school basketball gyms in Texas are incredible! There are NCAA Division I schools that don't have anything close to a facility like that. No wonder Texas produces a great number of Division I athletes every year. It's hard to compete against schools with facilities like that.


Its the school district arena. The cypress fairbanks school district has like 12 large high schools its not for a single school its also probably used for graduation ceremonies, and other events.


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## bd popeye (May 29, 2010)

Regarding Balboa Stadium. The original stadium on that site was torn down in 1980 and replaced with the present structure. My oldest son graduated from (SDHS) San Diego High in 1994. 



> In many American towns, the entire town shuts down for Friday night and everyone is at the football game. High School football games are a major part of the American cultural scene.


This is so true. Here in my part of Iowa there are HS teams regularly drawing 5000 for Friday night football. Those little towns shutdown to support these teams. Basketball games? Sold out. And here they love Greco-Roman style wrestling..at the HS level..guess what? Great crowds for that also.

And that's how we roll sports wise in the USA. Other countries have their culture and we have ours.


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## mike7743 (Oct 23, 2007)

mvictory said:


> No, it's a waste of money because schools do not need that kind of venue and I personally believe that funds could be spent better, especially after meeting some of the Americans I have (just so you know that is not a swing at America, I do realise that you have some of the smartest people in the world but from my experience you also have some of the dumbest, I remember in the US being asked how long it took to drive from Australia). Just my opinion.


you also have dumb ******** in Australia, so what's your point? there are dumb and smart people in any nation. Americans don't know about much about other nations not because they're dumb because they don't care. I bet you hold the same dumb views about countries in Africa or Latin America. it's the same thing. you don't care about other countries who you think are not on the same level as yours, so do Americans. it's human nature. don't get mad your country happen to fall in that category. besides this is one of the dumbest post I have ever read. America leads on everything. from innovation to health, science, economic and military might. because some of us don't know where the desert you call home located at it surely is a nation run by monkeys, right? *rolls eyes* people like you who stereotype Americans make me sick. you don't like it when we do it but you're fine doing it yourself. just sad.


with that said, the fact that our High schools have world class facilities should not surprise you. America's system is different than any other nation's. athletes are trained in High school and then get picked to go to college, play in College and then get drafted via lottery to become professional players. so it's all connected. today's high school player is tomorrow's NFL player. unlike many European soccer clubs who take kids and raise them our kids go to regular high school and college (the High schools and the colleges are the clubs) hence the emphasis on high school and college sport. at least understand something before you criticize it.


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## slipperydog (Jul 19, 2009)

^^ Exactly.

High school sports are a major part of the development process of American athletes. And sports in general just happen to be a major part of the American cultural fabric. So, put two and two together. Future star athletes + strong community pride + love of sports in general = BIG BLOODY STADIUMS. When you talk about cutting edge sports medicine/training coupled with world class athletes, it should surprise no one that we have the nicest, largest, most advanced facilities anywhere in the world.


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## RDSA (Apr 18, 2008)

ignore mvictory.

he's a moron, who's well rounded views come from 13 years of expensive(and government funded to an extent) private school education. 

and therefore, has no idea. 

(apologies for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors but my parents couldn't afford to send me to Xavier)


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## mvictory (Jul 27, 2009)

mike7743 said:


> you also have dumb ******** in Australia, so what's your point? there are dumb and smart people in any nation. Americans don't know about much about other nations not because they're dumb because they don't care. I bet you hold the same dumb views about countries in Africa or Latin America. it's the same thing. you don't care about other countries who you think are not on the same level as yours, so do Americans. it's human nature. don't get mad your country happen to fall in that category. besides this is one of the dumbest post I have ever read. America leads on everything. from innovation to health, science, economic and military might. because some of us don't know where the desert you call home located at it surely is a nation run by monkeys, right? *rolls eyes* people like you who stereotype Americans make me sick. you don't like it when we do it but you're fine doing it yourself. just sad.


Actually maybe I should have made myself more clear. You are right there are a lot of badly educated people everywhere not just in America. The point I made was that like everywhere there are deficiencies in your education system, hence why I said about the girl who asked me how long it took to drive from Australia (your point by the way is pretty stupid on this, something that most people know about African or Latin American countries is that they are in Africa or South America because they are CONTINENTS, pretty basic geography and I see no excuse apart from pure stupidity and ignorance for someone in a first world country to not know at least what all the continents are, one of which is Australia). What surprised me is that while there are obviously gaps in high school education funds are being used to build professional level stadiums for a bunch of school kids. Although I now understand how they are funded used because of Welkins post and no longer see a problem.


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## mike7743 (Oct 23, 2007)

mvictory said:


> Actually maybe I should have made myself more clear. You are right there are a lot of badly educated people everywhere not just in America. The point I made was that like everywhere there are deficiencies in your education system, hence why I said about the girl who asked me how long it took to drive from Australia (your point by the way is pretty stupid on this, something that most people know about African or Latin American countries is that they are in Africa or South America because they are CONTINENTS, pretty basic geography and I see no excuse apart from pure stupidity and ignorance for someone in a first world country to not know at least what all the continents are, one of which is Australia). What surprised me is that while there are obviously gaps in high school education funds are being used to build professional level stadiums for a bunch of school kids. Although I now understand how they are funded used because of Welkins post and no longer see a problem.


like I said, most Americans don't give a crap about Australia. you're just mad because here you thought you're "first world special" and you come across another American and he/she doesn't even know where you're from, or even care for that matter. so much for your pride, ay? that's all this is about. your ego is bruised and now you're taking it out on the rest of us. nothing more nothing less. like I said, you wouldn't know much about the rest of the world either. every European prick does it. the shoe just happens to be on the other foot. apparently, the only subject Americans are not good at is Geography.... how dare these Americans not know who we are... they must be dumb as shit. after all, we live and breath their culture and here they are they don't even acknowledge us. boohoo!!!


when you're raised in the most powerful and advanced nation the human race has ever witnessed, chances are you don't care much about the outside world since they're influence is limited if not non-existence. that's the American perspective. I don't condone it but I understand it. for every dumb American there are many smart ones. lumping us all together and saying stupid things is laughable. there are many things to criticize America. this is not one of them. and don't worry about our Education system or take shots at our nation. our one state alone produces more scientists than your entire nation. that's a fact.


have a good day, mate!


let's get back to enjoying pics, shall we?


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## mvictory (Jul 27, 2009)

mike7743 said:


> *like I said, most Americans don't give a crap about Australia.*
> true, but has no relevence to anything I or anyone else has posted.
> *you're just mad because here you thought you're "first world special" and you come across another American and he/she doesn't even know where you're from, or even care for that matter. so much for your pride, ay?*
> nothing to do with pride, just astonishment at the ignorance
> ...


Seriously, I was just wondering why you have/need such impressive facilities in your schools there is no need to turn it into an us versus them argument.


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## JYDA (Jul 14, 2008)

mvictory said:


> Seriously, I was just wondering why you have/need such impressive facilities in your schools there is no need to turn it into an us versus them argument.


it probably wouldn't have if you didn't smear the americans as dumb and call their favourite sport "boring" don't you think?


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## mike7743 (Oct 23, 2007)

yeah, because ancient Romans, Greeks, Egyptians or the 18th century British were all more powerful and advanced than current USA...





anyways, moving on.


edit: the post above.


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## mike7743 (Oct 23, 2007)

vanbasten88 said:


> For a well traveled and well educated man, he obviously didn't bother to travel to his basic manners class at his preposterously expensive private school. Insulting an entire country of 300 million based on the inane questions of one or two individuals, not to mention belittling sports(even in jest) loved by many millions isn't just bad manners its pure arrogance and embarrassing for me as an Aussie to be honest. Different doesn't have to mean wrong, it is supposed to be one of the first things you learn if you bother to travel.



Cheers, mate!


:cheers:


football IS America. it's engraved in the country's identity and it is it's favorite sport. its just completely arrogant to not respect a country's culture and customs, if you're a reasonable person. 

just how BIG is football in America....well the following article sums up the impact the impending NFL lockout will have on the economy/industry.




> Six industries hurt by an NFL lockout
> 
> Since 1985, professional football has steadily led the field as the most popular sport in the United States. In fact, the most recent Harris poll shows that it’s earned a double-digit lead over baseball, long considered America’s pastime. So it’s no wonder that companies are sweating over the owner/player dispute that is threatening to cancel the 2011-12 NFL season. Here is a sampling of industries that will be affected by the lockout.
> 
> ...







and how much Football dominates over everything that is entertainment in America.....


http://www.sportsgrid.com/nfl/the-nfls-dominance-of-television-is-absurd/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/business/media/20ratings.html?_r=4



once a person understands this culture then it's easy to see why we build first class sports facilities for kids.


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## mike7743 (Oct 23, 2007)

matthemod said:


> Not attempting to rile anyone up, but is the painting of soccer (it pains me to say that) lines on the American Football turf widespread in U.S. high school stadiums? I understand the difference in terms of popularity but can these schools really not find a patch of grass suitable instead of forcing both on one? I've played soccer on an American Football turf before and good lord it was confusing.


in most cases it has a lot to do with Soccer's popularity. Soccer doesn't make much money, if any at all. only in recent years Soccer has started to get a little respect (if you even call it that) from Americans. for the most part, unfortunately, Soccer is considered a women sport. building big stadium for a sport that isn't nearly as popular makes no sense from the management point of view. soccer doesn't bring the town's folks to see a game. it's something parents would have their kids do in order to keep them healthy. I played soccer in high school and when I did even though my school had tons of money to throw away building a dedicated soccer stadium was never considered a priority. we had a really nice field but played on a football stadium as well. the lines were erased after each game and painted back when needed. if America falls in love with soccer (maybe in the near future) then the world is going to have a problem. with this much talent pool, innovation and love for sports a serious contender will arrive. fortunately for others, America doesn't like Soccer (relatively speaking). lol


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## matthemod (Apr 8, 2008)

First of all, calling "soccer a woman sport" is quite derogatory and generalised, secondly I wasn't implying that each school would build a specialist, "soccer specific stadium" dedicated to the sport, all I was saying was is it really impossible for schools to put aside one patch of field for the soccer team to play upon. I understand that in more built up areas where each high school hasn't much land it is a necessary evil, and like I mentioned earlier I understand the sport isn't considered a crowd puller, but with the sports burgeoning interest it just seems a bit worst of both worlds to force the team to play on a modified "football" turf.


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## weava (Sep 8, 2007)

matthemod said:


> First of all, calling "soccer a woman sport" is quite derogatory and generalised, secondly I wasn't implying that each school would build a specialist, "soccer specific stadium" dedicated to the sport, all I was saying was is it really impossible for schools to put aside one patch of field for the soccer team to play upon. I understand that in more built up areas where each high school hasn't much land it is a necessary evil, and like I mentioned earlier I understand the sport isn't considered a crowd puller, but with the sports burgeoning interest it just seems a bit worst of both worlds to force the team to play on a modified "football" turf.


its not derogatory, its true here. My high school had a girls soccer team but not a boys and they had their own field separate from the football/track stadium


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## mike7743 (Oct 23, 2007)

matthemod said:


> First of all, calling "soccer a woman sport" is quite derogatory and generalised, secondly I wasn't implying that each school would build a specialist, "soccer specific stadium" dedicated to the sport, all I was saying was is it really impossible for schools to put aside one patch of field for the soccer team to play upon. I understand that in more built up areas where each high school hasn't much land it is a necessary evil, and like I mentioned earlier I understand the sport isn't considered a crowd puller, but with the sports burgeoning interest it just seems a bit worst of both worlds to force the team to play on a modified "football" turf.


why would it be derogatory? you're talking to an American here. we're experts at political correctness. soccer is considered a "women sport." period. I'm saying that as a person who grew up playing it and watches the Premier League every Sunday. parents would have their kids play it as a means of keeping them occupied or to get them involved in an activity. some take it seriously enough for college scholarships but that's where it ends. (for the most part) Soccer in the US is usually dominated by women. in fact, so much so that the US's Women National soccer team is considered the Brazil of the world's cup. pretty much wining the most cups and is the dominant team in the tournament. maybe that helps you put things in perspective.


Hopefully it'll catch up soon. in fact, it's as popular as it's ever been so there's some hope. when interests pick up then schools would have a reason to build dedicated fields. (I'm sure many schools have soccer fields as of now, just not being paid attention to on the same level as football or basketball)


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## Otto Racecar (Jan 13, 2011)

First of all I'm sure there are some americans who consider soccer to be a "womens sport" but I don't think that is the majority of our country.I also don't think that has anything to do with the multipurpose fields. Basically in super urban areas such as NYC land is at a premium so they have multipurpose fields, also many schools that have artificial turf fields use it for the majority of field sports such as football,soccer,lacrosse,field hockey etc.. so they can get the most return for their investment and also to show that they treat each sporting program equally and do not show preferential treatment to one certain program with better facilities. Unfortunately, a jumbled mess of lines is left on the field which is very distracting for any sport in my opinion.In ohio where I grew up I would say 95 percent of the high schools offered mens and womens soccer as a sport and the majority have seperate fields for the teams. The only schools that played on multipurpose fields were schools that had artificial turf. I also think there are many males in the us that would like to play pro soccer someday and that every year soccer keeps getting more and more popular in the US.


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## Darloeye (Jun 15, 2010)

Oh God are you all STILL in high school ? I am English so I win (JOKE) I understand why the american high school system works and how hugh football is to small town USA. I may not be a fan of high school football but its not aimed at me. After seeing how big some of the school stadiums are. Sure iam not the only one who is shocked at the size and a little envy of them. 

"_*because ancient Romans, Greeks, Egyptians or the 18th century British were all more powerful and advanced than current USA*_" Thats a little unfair since all other empires have fallen. Oh yeah has for the usa health care. god thats bad


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## mike7743 (Oct 23, 2007)

Darloeye said:


> *Oh God are you all STILL in high school ? I am English so I win* (JOKE) I understand why the american high school system works and how hugh football is to small town USA. I may not be a fan of high school football but its not aimed at me. After seeing how big some of the school stadiums are. Sure iam not the only one who is shocked at the size and a little envy of them.



if that's directed at me, NO, I'm not in High school. I graduated from college three years ago. I talked about my time playing high school soccer in the past sentence. reading is fundamental my friend.




Darloeye said:


> "_because ancient Romans, Greeks, Egyptians or the 18th century British were all more powerful and advanced than current USA_" *Thats a little unfair since all other empires have fallen.* Oh yeah has for the usa health care. god thats bad


Precisely.


as for our health care, (even though Universal health care has recently passed, if you were paying attention) USA may not have the best health care system but it has some of the BEST hospitals and doctors with some of the most advanced services anywhere on the planet. 

check out this list and see how USA dominates. 

http://hospitals.webometrics.info/top2000.asp

21 out of the top 25 are all in the US. that's some amazing advancement. take that. lol

now, are you done taking shots at the good ol USA? lol, we can go back to enjoying pictures...


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## mike7743 (Oct 23, 2007)

I'm sorry but this thread is spinning in all directions. I just had to respond but let's try to stay on topic please.


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## Darloeye (Jun 15, 2010)

Yes thats why I asked *IF YOUR ALL STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL*. Acting like school kids really don't care whos dad can beat whos dad. but that website looks homemade and very one sided. The USA has the best doctors Dr George House is played by an English guy (JOKE).


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## Commandant (Aug 25, 2009)

I really regret starting this thread... All I wanted to see was some damn pictures of high school stadiums... The American health care system, Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, America vs. the World, Dr. House, etc. I want to know...

WTF DOES ANY OF THIS HAVE TO DO WITH HIGH SCHOOL STADIUMS?


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## Commandant (Aug 25, 2009)

Royse City ISD Stadium, Royse City High School, Royse City, Texas









San Angelo Stadium, San Angelo, Texas









Breakers Stadium, Pacific Grove High School, Pacific Grove, California


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## JJG (Aug 4, 2010)

Waller I.S.D. Stadium, Waller, TX










And this isn't a stadium, but I felt the need to show Katy's trophy case. (Katy, TX.... former home of Andy Dalton)


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