The Palomar College Comets football team will be able to play home games on campus for the first time in the institution’s nearly 80-year history when a new stadium opens in September.
The milestone is part of a productive year overall for community college athletics in North San Diego County. MiraCosta College in Oceanside marked the start of 2024 with the opening of a new gymnasium and Kinesiology, Health, and Nutrition complex in February. Palomar also saw the completion of a 207-seat softball stadium.
Palomar College celebrates the opening of its 3,600-seat football stadium, located at its main San Marcos campus, on Thursday, Sept. 5, followed by the first home game on Saturday, Sept. 7, vs. the Moorpark College Raiders.
“The football program is 76 years old, and they’ve never played a genuine home game,” Palomar Athletics Director Daniel Lynds said in a college news release earlier this year. “It’s exciting for our student athletes and coaches and Palomar College to have an authentic home field.”
Before the completion of the football and softball facilities, Palomar football played home games at local high schools and softball played at Bradley Park in San Marcos.
“It’s going to make a big impact on how we can improve our students’ development,” Palomar softball coach Lacey Craft said in the college’s news release.
The stadium projects were funded by the $694 million bond measure Proposition M, which was approved by Palomar Community College District voters in 2006. The facilities are among the final projects funded by Prop. M, according to the college.
MiraCosta College’s gymnasium
MiraCosta College has witnessed its own athletics building boom with funding from Proposition MM, a $455 million bond approved by MiraCosta Community College District voters in 2016.
The 40,415-square-foot Kinesiology, Health, and Nutrition Building and Gymnasium Complex at MiraCosta’s Oceanside campus replaced the original gym buildings. The $41.3 million project consolidated the gym, athletics instructional spaces and Wellness Center.
The complex opened in February, in time for the Spartans men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams to play.
“We are so pleased to provide our students with a world-class facility critical to advancing MiraCosta’s Kinesiology, Health, and Nutrition programs, which support some of the in-demand careers,” Tim Flood, MiraCosta’s assistant superintendent/vice president of administrative services, said in a college news release earlier this year. “This complex provides a thoughtful, modern, and well-equipped teaching and learning environment our students and faculty deserve.”
