“Touchdown!” roars the crowd at Cooper Field. But rewind the clock. Imagine this space in the early 1990s, not a football stadium, but a simple intramural field known as Harbin Field. Cooper Field, as we know it today, has a fascinating history intertwined with Georgetown University’s athletic legacy. The field originally adopted for soccer in 1994, got a new purpose in 2003. The Georgetown Hoyas football team needed a home, and Harbin Field, renamed “Multi-Sport Field,” stepped up to the challenge. The name “Multi-Sport Field” was a placeholder. It hinted at bigger plans, pending final construction.
The stadium officially opened in 2005. Then in 2015, a generous $50 million gift from Peter and Susan Cooper, parents of a Georgetown football player, transformed the field. The donation honored athletic leadership programs and fueled construction upgrades. The field was renamed Cooper Field in their honor. The stadium’s capacity stands at 4,418. It’s small for Division I, a testament to unfinished construction plans that were halted in 2005. These plans included permanent bleachers and other vital facilities. As a result, Cooper Field remains the smallest stadium in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision or Football Championship subdivisions. During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, ongoing construction further reduced the attendance to 1,800.
Cooper Field isn’t just for football though. It’s a true multi-sport venue. The men’s and women’s lacrosse teams call it home. The women’s field hockey team and the Georgetown University Rugby Football Club also compete here. Even professional teams have graced its turf. The Washington Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse played most of their 2007 season games at Cooper Field. Imagine the roar of the lacrosse fans, the clash of sticks, a different kind of energy filling this space. In 2009, lights were installed, extending the field’s use into the evening. The surface is FieldTurf, a durable and low-maintenance artificial turf. So, the next time you hear the cheers echoing from Cooper Field, remember its journey. From humble beginnings as an intramural field, it evolved into a vital hub for Georgetown athletics, a place where dreams are pursued and victories celebrated, under the lights, on the vibrant green of the FieldTurf.