Sooners preparing for first games at Love's Field: 'It's still a dream'
NORMAN — There's a lot of memories coming to mind for OU coach Patty Gasso this week.
The first teams she coached when she was hired in 1995, when the Sooners were still playing at Reaves Park. Her first championship at Oklahoma in 2000. The long list of iconic players who've passed through, like Keilani Ricketts, Lauren Chamberlain and Jocelyn Alo. Of course, she's thinking about Marita Hynes, the namesake of the field that's been the Sooners' home for all seven of their national championships.
As the Sooners prepare for the monumental opening of Love's Field, the program's new stadium, Gasso can't help but be reflective.
"(I'm thinking of) Marita Hynes," Gasso said Tuesday. "I’m looking at the wall behind. I think of the 2000 team. I think of the team that was over at Reaves and never got a locker room. And even when we had [Marita Hynes Field] built, we didn’t have this building. So players were still dressing in the bathrooms or dressing at home and going home in their uniforms. So I think about those athletes that are alums but never got to experience this.
"So what we're really trying to do is embrace all of our alumni and say, 'You've all built this.' There's no one particular person. There's been some amazing performances. Jocie Alo, Lauren Chamberlain, Kalani Ricketts, those are the big names that you think of. But I want to honor those that came way even before me because they played over at Reaves and they got this thing started. So we're really trying to make a good push for our alums and embrace all of them to celebrate this moment."
That's just one of many reasons why this weekend will be particularly emotional for the Sooners.
More than eight years since the project was approved, the Sooners will play their first games at Love's Field this weekend for the OU Tournament. The five-game slate will begin against Miami (OH) at 2 p.m. Friday before continuing with clashes against Liberty (5 p.m. Friday, 1:45 p.m. Saturday) and Louisiana (11 a.m. Saturday, 12:30 p.m. Sunday). Before the tournament begins there will be a dedication ceremony to officially open the stadium at 11 a.m. which will include OU athletic director Joe Castiglione, president Joseph Harroz, team co-captains Kinzie Hansen and Tiare Jennings and Gasso.
"I don’t even know what to tell you about Love’s Field because it’s still a dream and until the first pitch is thrown, that’s when I will really pinch myself," Gasso said. "I go by it every day. I try to look over and see anything new. I did get down on the ground floor when I wasn’t supposed to but I couldn’t help it. (laugh) And it is an absolute wow factor empty. I can’t even imagine when you get excited Sooner fans in there, what this is going to be like."
For fans, the stadium will include improved amenities and facilities and will have a capacity of 4,200, more than double the capacity of Marita Hynes Field. For athletes, the stadium will include a brand new indoor training facility, training room, locker room and classroom. The square footage will reach 44,000, which is nearly triple that of Marita Hynes Field.
The stadium isn't quite finished yet and will continue to be worked on as the season continues. The Sooners and opposing teams will continue to get dressed and do some warmups at Marita Hynes. But many parts of the stadium — including the scoreboard, which was constructed to resemble the state of Oklahoma — will be ready to go.
"It’s just overwhelming," Gasso said. "Everything is just magnified by 100, from the size of the room that we’re doing video in, to the training room, to the equipment room. We have our own offices there. These are brand new things we’ve never thought that we would have.
"The scoreboard, I remember Joe Castiglione talking to me about this idea of creating it and I’m like, ‘Oh God, I don’t know.’ And then I saw it. I’m like, 'This is legit.’ It’s just great. It’s Oklahoma. It’s a state of Oklahoma and as big as you could make it and it’s just a great representation of who we are and who we’re representing."
While the top-ranked Sooners (14-0) are looking to continue their hot start to the season, this won't be a normal weekend. Love's Field will be filled with alumni and fans in celebration of how far the program has come.
Gasso wants her team to enjoy it.
“We’re going to make sure we do that," Gasso said. "I’m not going to let this be chaos and panic and rushing and rushing. We’re going to try to take it as slow as we can and to take it all in because there’s so much to see. There’s so much to look at. There’s things that are so new and bigger and better and it’s going to take us sometime to get used to all of it... it’s going to be a wow factor. And it might take your breath away for a minute. And I just want to make sure we’re all together and we’re trying to take this all in together.”