The University of Memphis broke ground on the Liza Wellford Fletcher Stadium, marking the start of construction on the first purpose-built home for the university’s women’s and men’s soccer and track and field programs.
The project is funded through the Liza’s Light University of Memphis Soccer and Track Stadium Fund, established by the family and friends of Liza Wellford Fletcher.
The ceremony took place on the same field where the campaign was announced in August 2024. In the two years since, donors have contributed more than $8.3 million, surpassing the goal and allowing construction to move forward.
“We are investing in student-athletes who have competed at a high level for years without a place to call their own, and we are doing it in the name of a woman who spent her life pouring into young people. Liza was a Tiger, a teacher, and a mother. Every day this stadium is used, it will do the kind of work she would have wanted it to do,” said University of Memphis President Bill Hardgrave, Ph.D.
“Two years ago, we stood on this same field and asked Memphis to believe in something that did not exist yet, and Memphis closed the gap,” said University of Memphis Senior Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ed Scott, Ph.D. “Our soccer and track and field programs have excelled without a permanent home. Starting today, that changes, and every recruit who walks onto this pitch will see a university that is serious about them.”
Fletcher was a University of Memphis soccer player, an avid runner, a beloved kindergarten teacher, and a mother. Her family named the fund Liza’s Light to reflect the way she lived.
“Liza played in this program, and she led here long before this city knew her name. I think about the player who will arrive four years from now. Despite not meeting her, that athlete will walk past Liza’s name every day on her way to a locker room that belongs to her – and they will know exactly who Liza was,” said University of Memphis Women’s Soccer Head Coach Brooks Monaghan.
For more information on the Liza Wellford Fletcher Stadium, visit www.lizaslight.org.