Prentup Field Policies

Prentup Field, located on the East Campus of the University of Colorado at Boulder, has been the home of Colorado Soccer since 2003. The field had been the home of the now-obsolete Colorado baseball team before the women's soccer team took over.

Prentup combines the very best of what Boulder has to offer, with beautiful Colorado mountain views and a lush pitch courtesy of CU's turf management team.

The Buffaloes have always enjoyed great home advantages in Boulder. CU formerly played its matches at Pleasant View Soccer Complex in North Boulder. This facility had an award-winning field for CU to play on and nine surrounding fields for training.
During that time, the Buffaloes compiled a home record of 49-28-4, a winning percentage of .630. The Buffs also played host to over 3,000 fans on Sept. 2, 1998, when they hosted then-defending national champion North Carolina.

Upon the arrival of coach Bill Hempen, the Buffs started training at Prentup in the spring of 2002 while it was still a baseball field.

In the spring of 2003, the soccer team was granted exclusive use of Prentup, and work began to re-landscape the field. All remnants of the baseball field except for the outfield fence were razed, and the turf began a major makeover.

Prentup Field is now a 160,000 square foot facility that contains a 120x75 yard game field along with a practice area. It is a native soil field and is equipped with an automated irrigation system. When the irrigation was installed and the field was graded in July of 2003, the turf management team produced a playable soccer facility from seed in just 33 days.

Each week, the field is painted and mowed 3-4 times in preparation for matches and practices under the supervision of Ryan Newman, along with a collection of other maintenance practices.

The Buffs trained at Prentup from 2002-04, and finally in the fall of 2004, they played their first-ever match there, defeating Northern Colorado by a score of 3-0 on October 1, 2004. In 2005, Prentup became CU's full time home, with the Buffaloes posting a record of 7-1-0 in their first full season and an all-time mark of 30-9-3.
Capital improvements to the facility are ongoing. An athletic department fund-raising campaign in the summer of 2005 helped raise funds to put in bleachers for 1,200 people, a new scoreboard, nets behind the goals and iron entrance gates adorned with the CU logo into the venue. Additional funds in advance of the 2006 NCAA Tournament added more bleachers, bringing the seating capacity of Prentup Field to 2,000 people.

While there are bleachers for 2,000, fans of CU soccer bring lawn chairs and blankets to sit on as well in the open areas, continuing some of the community feel of Pleasant View at the current home.

In the fall of 2007, Prentup and the Buffs welcomed top-ranked Stanford to Boulder and dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Cardinal in front of a facility record 3,128 fans, shattering the previous record by 1,257 people. Colorado has also had the privelege of hosting back-to-back NCAA Tournament first and second rounds in 2006 and 2007, welcoming 1,871 fans against Colorado College in '06 and 1,843 against No. 2 Portland in '07.

Prentup Field has been home to University of Colorado athletics for almost 40 years, as the venue is named after former CU baseball coach Frank "Chief" Prentup. The field, formerly known as Varsity Field, was renamed after the former coach in 1978. The complex remained a popular venue until the varsity baseball team was removed in 1980.

The field was used by several different entities within Colorado athletics after 1980. The club baseball team played there, and CU's mascot Ralphie was even known to have taken practice runs there.

The complex is located just west of CU's Potts Field track & field complex and ski building. Amenities for Buffalo soccer fans include concessions, rest rooms and free parking and game programs.

Directions

On your smart phone, search "East Campus, Boulder, CO" OR.
Get To US-36 & Colorado Avenue.
Turn east onto Colorado Avenue.
Turn left on 33rd Street (first left AFTER the light at 30th Street).
Turn right into Lot 543 (free one hour before games).

Things To Know Before Going

General Parking is located at the gravel lot (Lot 534)
Merch, concessions, beer, wine are available at the game. No outside food is permitted. Water in factory sealed bottles is OK
Clear bag policy will be in effect at Prentup. Check out those guidelines here.

Colorado University Athletics

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