vanishedkalamazoo

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The Catholic Athletic Association (C.A.A.), formed in 1938, was a volunteer group who raised funds for the support of St. Augustine High School's athletic teams. One of the first efforts of this pioneer group was to build a football field for the Coack Harve Freeman ’s powerful “Fighting Irish. ” “C.A.A. Field ” was officially dedicated on November 3, 1939. It was home to St. A's teams (later Hackett High School in 1964) to now. The stadium was renamed "Soison-Rapacz Field" in 1984 to honor two longtime coaches, Head Football Coach Dick Soisson and his Assistant coach John Rapacz. Soisson coached football at St. A's/Hackett from 1955-1990 compiling a record of 233-124-7 which is one of the best records in Michigan High School Football history. Soisson had three teams compile a 9-0 regular season record. The 1963 and 1971 teams were hailed at State Champions by the State's Wire Service polls. The 1989 team lost their first-round playoff game (to Schoolcraft at Soisson-Rapacz Field). Ironically, in each of these unbeaten seasons, the ninth win came vs. Plainwell playing at Soisson-Rapacz Field. John Rapacz was known as "Big John" and deeply loved by the entire community. The Kalamazoo Central High School graduate played college football at Oklahoma and was a two-time All-American at Center. He played professionally in the 1940s and 1950s with the Chicago Rockets of the old All-American Conference and later with The New York Giants and Baltimore Colts of the National Football League. Besides assisting Coach Soisson, Rapacz also coached many other sports at St. A's/Hackett. "Big John" died on January 2, 1991. The stadium was purchased by the City of Kalamazoo in the late 1990s and underwent complete refurbishment (along with the adjoining baseball field known as Sutherland Field). Today the complex is known as Mayor's Riverfront Park. The football field is still named for Soisson and Rapacz and "Home of the Irish". The baseball field is now called Homer Stryker Field. (Photos and Text provided by Denny Cooley) Looking north from the parking lot - The back of the concession stand and scoreboard and side view of the grandstand seating.

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