Jamie L. Roberts Stadium - St. Mary’s (MD) Seahawks Field Hockey

Photos by Gregory Koch, Stadium Journey

Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 2.71

Jamie L. Roberts Stadium 47777 Mattapany Road St. Marys City, MD 20686

St. Mary’s (MD) Seahawks website

Jamie L. Roberts Stadium website

Year Opened: 2019 Capacity: 800

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The Other St. Mary's

When sports fans think of St. Mary’s College, they usually think of the school in Moraga, California, that produces the occasional basketball upset of Gonzaga. However, there is another school of that name as well, St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Unlike other schools of that name, this St. Mary’s is a public university that gets its name not from a Catholic saint but from St. Mary’s City, Maryland, where it is located.

St. Mary’s City was the first colonial settlement in the State of Maryland, and the fourth-oldest permanent English settlement in what was then the Thirteen Colonies. Today, half of the city is a state-run historical preservation and reconstruction area similar to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts, also known as Historic St. Mary’s City, while the other half is occupied by the modern-day SMCM campus. Although the original St. Mary’s City was once a thriving port town, its population had dropped to just 100 by 1644. Today, almost 400 years later, the population is just 733, almost all of them associated with either the college or the historic site.

SMCM’s athletic teams are known as the Seahawks, and they compete at the NCAA’s Division III level in the United East Conference. Jamie L. Roberts Stadium is home to several of the Seahawks' outdoor sports teams, including lacrosse, track & field, soccer, and field hockey. The stadium is actually two fields with a common concourse running in between - one turf and one grass. This review will cover the experience at a field hockey game, which is played on the turf field.

The stadium is named after Jamie L. Roberts, a multi-sport athlete at St. Mary's who was tragically killed in a collision during a cross-country bike ride to raise money for cancer research.

Food & Beverage 1

There is a concession stand at Jamie L. Roberts Stadium, but it was closed when we visited. A Kona Ice truck was parked outside the stadium, selling its usual wares, but there was no announcement of this in the stadium, so you would just have to notice it from the concourse and go down to get some. A food truck may sometimes show up with a more extensive menu. When we visited, it was not present for the field hockey game, but did show up for a soccer match at the stadium later in the day.

Atmosphere 3

Walking through the gates at Jamie L. Roberts Stadium will put you in a small area with a promotions table and some other signage, such as a plaque honoring Jamie L. Roberts. From there, you will take steps or an elevator up to a concourse running between the turf and grass fields. Field hockey plays on the turf field, which will be on your right as you come up. There are some chairback seats at midfield, with the remainder being metal bleachers without backs. It is general admission, but the chairbacks never fill up, so you should have no trouble getting one.

One downside of the field here is that it is surrounded by a running track, so you are further from the action than you might otherwise be. However, with only a few rows of seats, you will still not be too far away. A scoreboard in the far left corner shows time, score, and time left on penalty cards. The last bit of information is not always seen on field hockey scoreboards at this level, so it is good to have.

Neighborhood 3

St. Mary’s City contains precisely two things: the St. Mary’s College campus and Historic St. Mary’s City, which is a historical reconstruction park similar to Colonial Williamsburg and Plymouth Plantation. It is a popular field trip site for Maryland schoolchildren, and tens of thousands of others visit the site every year as well. It is well worth a visit for the colonial history buff, but for just about anything else, you’re going to have to go into a neighboring town like Lexington Park.

There are some places to eat up and down Three Notch Road (Route 235) and Point Lookout Road (Route 5), and some hotels that are mainly used by people visiting the historic site, but you’re going to have to drive at least 10-15 minutes to get there.

Fans 3

Most of the crowd at a St. Mary's field hockey game will be friends and family of the players on the field. Many of them come to every or almost every home game. A few locals occasionally show up, and of course, the visiting team will be represented as well with their own fans. The crowds here are pretty small, as is to be expected for this level, but they can get loud at times, after St. Mary's goals or big plays.

Access 3

Unless you’re already in town to visit the historical site, getting to the St. Mary’s campus will take some driving. Maryland Route 5 and Maryland Route 235 both serve the area, but it’s a long drive from any major city along mostly local roads. It is two hours from Baltimore and an hour and 45 minutes from Washington, DC.

Keep in mind that if you are planning to travel here from areas across the Potomac River or the Chesapeake Bay, particularly the Northern Neck of Virginia or Maryland’s Eastern Shore, places that look close on a map may actually be a long drive away, as there are no bridges across either body of water at this location.

A map may show that the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore is only about 40 miles away as the crow flies. Still, it would be difficult if not impossible to see both the Hawks and the Seahawks on the same day as getting from St. Mary’s to Princess Anne requires a three and a half hour drive up to Annapolis, across the Bay Bridge, and back down. Likewise, parts of Virginia’s Northern Neck are only about ten miles away as the crow flies, but require almost a two-hour drive as the nearest bridge is many miles away.

Once you make it onto the campus, there is a small lot next to the stadium, which is across Mattapany Road from the main part of campus. If that lot fills up (which it will - it is a very small lot), there is another, much larger lot directly across the street. This lot is known as the Guam Lot, likely due to its remote location relative to most of campus, but it is very convenient for attending games at Jamie L. Roberts Stadium.

There are several restrooms on the upper concourse, with gender neutral single-person ones on one end by the stairs and elevator, and conventional men's and women's ones on the other.

Return on Investment 4

Attendance at St. Mary's field hockey games is free of charge. So is parking. The only cost will be Kona Ice if you want any, or whatever food options may be available. That being said, there isn't enough here to earn the top core.

Extras 3

‘Look for the plaque honoring Jamie Roberts. Roberts was a former St. Mary's women's basketball, soccer, and lacrosse player for the Seahawks. Sadly, she was killed in 2014 during a cross-country bike ride to raise money to fight cancer.

A second star for the historical markers on the path to the stadium. They recognize the history of the St. Mary's campus and St. Mary's City and its transformation from a historic city to the present time.

A third star for the fact that Jamie L. Roberts Stadium is actually two stadiums in one, and if you time your visit right, you can experience both of them in one day.

Final Thoughts

While a St. Mary's Seahawks field hockey game is a pretty basic experience, Jamie L. Roberts Stadium is a nice venue for the Division III level. Fans of the sport in the Southern Maryland area will want to make the trip here to check out a game.