Corbin Fields turn 100

Corbin Fields: A century of athletic competition memories

• Aerial view during Reunion 2019. E ach week during the fall and spring seasons, I send emails regarding game locations. The references to Corbin Field 1, Corbin Field 2 and Corbin Field 3 are very familiar to our student-athletes; but each time I send these messages, I am personally reminded of the history— highlighted this year by the 100th anniversary of their dedication—of the phrase “Corbin Fields.”

On Nov. 4, 1922, the official dedication of Corbin Memorial Athletic Fields took place on our campus. The dedication served as a memorial to Chester C. Corbin, through a special bequest from his wife, Augusta C. Corbin. Mr. Corbin was a student at Wesleyan Academy from 1856 to 1859. He then served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 1881 until his death in 1903.

Before 1922, Academy athletic activity was restricted to the northeastern portion of the campus, which is now known as Winchester Field on Main Street. By the time I first stepped onto Corbin Fields in the late 1970s, decades of our school’s athletes had graced these fields as they engaged in interscholastic competition in lacrosse, football, track and field, soccer and baseball. Although the dimensions of Corbin Fields have largely stayed the same over time, there have been changes in the appearance of some of the venues and even some of the topography was changed to make more effective use of the overall space.

My memory of the old brick and iron gate leading onto the fields is still very clear. Although the structure is now gone, one of the original 1922 “Corbin Memorial” bronze plaques from the brick pillars is still in that area on a stone by the flagpole. The original lamps from the top of the brick pillars are still in active use on new pillars by the senior wall in front of the Rich Hall main entrance.

Our current students are reminded of our old cinder track when they look at the Phil Shaw portrait hanging in the Athletic Center’s Scott B. Jacobs ’75 Board Room and see the track behind Coach Shaw. The new track, dedicated to Coach Shaw in 2009, now sits as a focal point of the modern Corbin Fields.

Although the old baseball field is long gone and that space has become part of the football practice field (Corbin 2), it was visible until recent years in aerial photos of Corbin Fields. The old field was not too far away from where the old stone drinking fountain was located by Faculty Street.

Lower Corbin was expanded into upper Corbin, and earth was removed in order to fit in a new soccer field and a new baseball field on the western side of the athletic field.

Although Corbin Fields would look a bit different to those from previous generations, it has still retained its distinction as the center of athletic activity on our campus. The memorials and markers are passed by our athletes every day on their way to practice.

• The Girls’ Soccer team, shown here in 2014 as Western New England champions and New England finalists, has been among countless teams that enjoyed high-level success on Corbin Fields.

• WMA’s football team during a win over Williston, with the Athletic Center in the background, in 2016.

We do try to show our current students the history that is all around them each day, but they are obviously focused on their current athletic endeavors and teams. As alumni, we all have our own memories of time spent in practices and games on Corbin. The teammates and coaches we shared experiences with would perhaps come into our memories when we think about our time out there. • How many can still remember the old wooden bleachers on the old football field inside the track? • How about when the baseball field was located in the middle area of Corbin?

And maybe, just maybe, you can even imagine your own memories of Phil Shaw, Phil Cardone, Bill LaBelle, Gary Cook, Joe Mazeika and so many others who have walked these athletic fields and have made Corbin such a special place in the hearts and minds of Academy student-athletes.

What are your memories of this special place on our campus?

A photo from 1922, the year of dedication of Corbin Fields.

Originally published in Nov. 1922 in the Wilbraham Bulletin, the official magazine of the Academy

The New Athletic field

“During the past year, all eyes have turned with longing toward the new athletic field, a part of which was constructed last fall on the south side of Faculty Street, just west of or back of Rich Hall and the farm buildings. The area there will prove ample for all the boys to be on the field at the same time. The splendid level field for soccer is, and for baseball is, waiting for the new grassroots to become firmly entrenched before actual play begins.

Early in the Fall, it is hoped that a suitable hedge may be started, running from the rear of Rich Hall past the barns and serving as a dividing line between the new playing field and the road. It would therefore be about a quarter of a mile in length, and about the middle of the field would contain an appropriate gateway of brick and iron-bearing the name Corbin Playing field, in honor of Chester C. Corbin, Wilbraham student and trustee to whom the entire work is a Memorial.

The Corbin Memorial Athletic Field was dedicated Nov. 4th, 1922, and was built and equipped, and endowed by a special bequest of Mrs. Chester C. Corbin in memory of her husband who attended from 1856 to 1859 and served as an Academy trustee from 1881 until his death in 1903. This field covers about seven acres and can be greatly enlarged when added facilities may be needed. There are separate baseball diamond and soccer fields, two hundred and twenty yards of cinder running track, and five tennis courts. An Amur Privet hedge extends for one thousand feet along the front line of the field and as a rear boundary there are one hundred and twenty-five Lombardy poplar trees eight feet apart. These natural surroundings make a most attractive and harmonious the setting for this convenient and well-appointed athletic field.”