About Coach Crater
We are honored that the new on-campus athletic facility serving RJR and Wiley will be named the M. Douglas Crater Field & Stadium. Here’s how RJR alum Greg Cox described Coach Crater during the Board of Education meeting to vote on the facility name.
70 years ago, Doug Crater graduated from Reynolds High School where he played all sports and was the co-captain of the football team where he was recognized as an All City-County performer. He served four years in the US Navy and received a BS and MA degree from Appalachian State University where he received a football and academic scholarship. Doug returned home to RJR and spent 36 years doing what he loved: teaching and coaching. His wife Sandy taught in the WSFCS system and his children, Tim and Jennifer, graduated from Reynolds. Coach Crater impacted the lives of many, including myself. I wholeheartedly support the naming of the Reynolds Wiley athletic field after my coach, Millard Douglas Crater.
About Home Field Advantage
Home Field Advantage (HFA) is a nonprofit organization of families, alumni and community volunteers from R.J. Reynolds High School. Since 2012, HFA has been raising private funds for the M. Douglas Crater Field & Stadium which will be the first on-campus field facility serving the students of RJR and Wiley Magnet Middle School. For decades, the schools' field teams and other activities such as Band, Cheer and JROTC, have driven miles to off-campus and often remote practice and "home" game locations. A groundbreaking celebration for the new field and stadium with WS/FCS Superintendent Tricia McManus alongside principals, staff, students and alumni from both RJR and Wiley was held on March 2, 2022. Home Field Advantage is working to raise the remaining dollars for the stadium entrance, field house and press box.
Home Field Advantage also raised the private funds for the RJR practice field along Reynolda Road completed in 2015.
The Need
R.J. Reynolds High School and Wiley Magnet Middle School are both Title I schools meaning more than 50% of their combined nearly 2,500 students in grades 6-12 qualify for free or reduced lunch. Neither school has an on-campus field for students to practice, play or attend games for men's and women's soccer, men's and women's lacrosse, football and women's field hockey. Prior to the approval for the M. Douglas Crater Field & Stadium, these teams, their families and fans, would drive to practice and game locations miles away. This kept many students from participating in sports and their families, especially those who lacked access to transportation.
In 2021, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools voted to fund an on-campus field site including lighting, fencing, goalposts and scoreboard to be shared by both schools. A subsequent vote was held in January of 2022 to fund retaining walls in order to accommodate the regulation-size field bringing the total funding by WS/FCS to $2.1 million. WS/FCS and Home Field Advantage have agreed to a public-private partnership whereby HFA will raise the private funds to complete the facility including funds for a turf field (needed to withstand year-round play by all field sports), bleachers, concessions/restroom facility, press box and entrance. In the spring of 2022, HFA announced that it had raised more than $4.4 million in private funds with an additional $1.7 million still needed to complete the project.
501(C)(3)
Volunteer Officers
President: Kathryn Spanos
Secretary: Lisa Rowell
Treasurer: Lynn Gwyn
Major Gifts: Greg Cox, Marie Flow
Public Relations: Stan Dean
Marketing: Kirk Fry, Laura Burrows, Rick Crowder
Alumni Relations: Tom Joyce, Frank Johnson
Fundraising: Bruce Patterson, Kristie Blanco
Campaign Coordinator: Laura Neelon
Ex Officio
RJ Reynolds High School Principal: Calvin Freeman
Wiley Magnet Middle School Principal: Lisa Bodenheimer
RJR Men’s Soccer Coach: Tony Sabio
RJR Women’s Soccer Coach: LeAnne Kuhner
“This complex will allow all students the benefits of having a home facility right at their school. Think of how many more students will be served having the field on site. This must be built to be fair to all.”
