HISTORIC BUC STADIUM IS CELEBRATING ITS ANNIVERSARY THIS YEAR. — Buc Stadium has a rich history as the epicenter for high school football in the Coastal Bend for 80 years.
Students, athletes and officials hope it will continue for another eight decades.
The history and significance is obvious to anyone who visits.
Dr. Bruce Wilson, principal at Roy Miller High School, knows how important the history of the stadium is.
“Eighty years later and just knowing there are may more years to go, many more years to go," Wilson said. "Our stadium is still a phenomenal structure and has been well taken care off and we still have people coming out wanting to be a part of it.”
The stadium was built in 1940 as part of a Work Projects Administration grant to help stimulate jobs in the area after the Great Depression. Roy Miller High School then was known as Corpus Christi High School.
Since then, thousands of athletes have played at Buc Stadium.
“It shows how far we’ve come along as a district and as a community in supporting our athletes," Wilson said. "This stadium was built in 1940, and if you think about in 80 years the number of athletes that have been out here on this field.”
Eddie Valdez, a former Miller High School football player in 1963-64, says he remembers playing at the stadium. He feels a kinship with current athletes who play there.
“Football players rarely see the fans, they are concentrated so much on a given play, on a given action," Valdez said. "We do hear those fans ... (they are) loud, those boys need a lot of support."
One man who has been a fan since the 1960s has been supporting players at the stadium since then.
Super fan Richard Quijas has been putting on his Miller gear for decades, pumping up not only the players but the fans as well.
“I am a cheerleader mascot for the alumni and for the fans up in the stands," Quijas said. "I don’t sit, don’t think I go and sit. No, I’m up and down that stadium trying to get everybody into the game.”
