Wesleyan's soccer field has been completely renovated in time for the fall soccer season thanks to a generous donation from long-time Wesleyan donor Nancy Panoz of Duluth, GA. The $400,000 renovation project, part of Wesleyan's Fast Forward Campaign, involved scraping the old field to level it, installing irrigation and drainage features, adding appropriate soils to enhance drainage, and sodding the entire area.
The original soccer field, completed in 1999, was part of a gift from Trustee George Mathews to honor his sister, Mary Ann Mathews Pease '44, which also included Wesleyan's softball field, tennis courts, and Mathews Athletic Center. The new soccer field will be named Panoz Field.
"The new soccer field is a testament to the direction that our soccer program is going. We hope everyone will come out and support our soccer team as we turn to a new chapter in the program. We are eager to start competing on this beautiful, bermuda field," said Don Tees, Wesleyan's head soccer coach.
Panoz also provided resources to renovate the Goodwin-Candler-Panoz organ in Wesleyan's Porter Auditorium. She received an honorary degree (doctor of commercial science) in 2003.
The soccer program kicks off their first match on Friday, August 31st in Atlanta versus Oglethorpe University.