UT Arlington: Maverick Athletics

UTA's teams took the Maverick name in 1971, and their venues are spread from the southwest corner of campus to the Center Street edge of downtown. This walk runs one way, roughly two miles, from the baseball and softball diamonds past the old football stadium and the tennis courts to the recreation center and the arena. Along the way you meet a political science professor whose gifts paid for fields, a coach remembered on a scoreboard, and a stadium that has outlived its football team. Most venues are best seen from outside unless a game or event is on.

UT Arlington's teams took the Maverick name in 1971, and their venues stretch from the southwest corner of campus to the edge of downtown Arlington. This one-way walk of roughly two miles tells the story of Maverick sports through the places where it happens, and through a few memorable people along the way.

The baseball diamond, opened in 1974, is now Clay Gould Ballpark, named for a former player who returned as an assistant, became head coach in 2000 and died of cancer in 2001; a memorial plaque was unveiled when the park was dedicated in his name in 2003. The softball field next door honors Allan Saxe, a political science professor who taught at UTA from 1965 to 2019 and became known across Arlington for giving away much of what he earned.

Maverick Stadium opened in 1980 with a game against North Texas that drew more than 18,000 fans and was ESPN's first college football broadcast. UTA dropped football after 1985, and the bowl now hosts track and field and the Bed Races, billed as the longest-running tradition on campus. College Park Center, a roughly 7,000-seat arena that opened in 2012, is home to Maverick basketball and volleyball and has hosted the WNBA's Dallas Wings since 2016.

For sports fans, alumni and families, it is an easy way to connect Arlington's college athletics with the stories behind the names.