Saturday, September 20th was an important day in the history of the University of Hartford and for athletics.
This is because the alumni were finally being rewarded for their contributions to the major project that has been going on for the last several years in the Home Field Advantage project. The goal of the project was to give the Hartford men’s and woman’s soccer teams along with the baseball, softball and lacrosse teams a home field right here on campus. As everyone can see that plan was executed to perfection and the fields that are in place are some of the best on the east coast. This past Saturday the alumni that contributed so much time, effort, and money were rewarded.
President Walter Harrison, Athletic Director Pat Mieser, woman’s soccer coach John Natale, Men’s soccer coach Dan Gaspar and Lacrosse coach Peter Lawerence along with players from all these teams and many alumni were all on hand for Saturday’s pre game ceremony. The ceremony was to honor the alumni and thank them for all their hard work.
There is a new sign just outside of the soccer field that reads “Alumni Stadium at Al-Marzook Field.”
One of the most prominent alumni in the whole process was Bob Forrester a Hartford soccer player and graduate of the university in 1966. Forrester thanked everyone for their support and said “It’s up to the alumni to support this University, now and even more so in the future.”
Another guest at the ceremony was Faisal Al- Marzook’s nephew Mohammed Hamad Al-Ghanim who talked about the great appreciation that he has for everyone at the University of Hartford for what the school gave to his family and uncle. “He believes that he was given opportunities here that he could never have received anywhere else. For 40 years the University of Hartford has been part of our family.”
After the speeches the alumni and Al-Ghanim received gifts and President Harrison announced the field dedicated.
To top off the night the men’s soccer team won the game 3-0 in front of a record crowd and then the woman’s team played to a 1-1 tie the following day against Colgate. Overall, a successful day in history for Hartford athletics as the University and alumni move forward with their Home Field Advantage project.
