After a year playing all away games, the Tracy High football team will finally be on its own field again.

The Bulldogs will dedicate Wayne Schneider Stadium on Friday, Aug. 30, with a pre-game ceremony including performances from the cheer team, dance team, and marching band along with fireworks after the junior varsity game against Stagg at 4 p.m. The varsity game follows at 7 p.m.

“This is the moment Tracy has been waiting for,” Principal Jason Noll said. “The wait was definitely worth the while for the beautiful stadium, field, and track.”

With the demolition of the old stadium beginning in Aug. 2012, the project took just over one year to complete.

“It was definitely worth the wait,” Athletic Director Gary Henderson said. “I will make sure our athletes and staff do their best to use the stadium and keep it looking beautiful.”

The stadium cost was roughly $7 million, and was one of the last to be reconstructed at Tracy since the remodeling of the school.

“It is a major honor to be a part of Tracy High School and all it stands for,” Schneider said. “High school sports is one of the biggest things you’ll remember in life, and it’s great to see the athletes enjoying the new field.”

Schneider began coaching football at Tracy in 1965, and remained the coach for 26 years with a record of 224 wins, 59 losses, and 4 ties. He also coached teams into winning two Sac-Joaquin section titles, and went to the section semi-finals six times. Tracy was the only public school in Northern California to win 100 games in the 1980’s. Other winning schools included De La Salle and St. Francis.

“Coach Schneider has been a big part of Tracy High football, and it’s great that we get to recognize him for that,” Henderson said. “His time and dedication on the field really paid off when it came to winning.”

Schneider has received coaching awards such as: California Coach of the Year, Northern California Coach of the Year, and League Coach of the year multiple times. In 2007, Schneider was put in the National High School Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame for football.

“Any Tracy alums who played football will tell you that Coach Schneider is an inspiration as a player and as a coach,” Noll said. “It actually means a lot to me that we named the stadium after him.”

Dignitaries at the dedication ceremony will include Tracy Mayor Brent Ives, Tracy Unified School District Superintendent Dr. James Franco, San Joaquin County Office of Education Deputy Superintendent of Schools James Mousalimas, stadium contractors, architects,  and city council members.