Renton Memorial Stadium — Attraction in Renton

Ah, yeah, it’s a stadium. You go there, sports happen. That’s the deal. Not amazing, not terrible. Just a place where you can watch high school football and question whether the sun has a personal vendetta against your corneas.

Let’s start with the layout. The stadium is built East-West. Which, if you don’t know sports architecture, is like building a house with the front door on the roof. Every sunrise and sunset turns the field into a live-action eye exam. You’re either squinting like you’re trying to read a text from your grandma or shielding your face like you just spotted your ex buying bulk pickles at Costco.

And then there’s Boeing Field next door. You ever try to cheer during a touchdown and a 747 takes off? It’s like, “YEAH—” RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. You just sit there nodding like, “I think we scored. I’ll confirm when the jet reaches cruising altitude.”

The covered stands have support posts placed with the precision of a toddler playing Jenga. They block your view, the coaching booth’s view, and most importantly, the cameras trying to film game footage. So if you’re hoping for highlights, congrats—you now have a lovely documentary about a pole.

Spectator tip: enter on the correct side. Because once you’re in, you’re in. There’s no crossing over. You’re stuck with the other team’s fans, pretending you’re cool with it. Just sitting there like, “Yeah, I love when my team gets booed. Builds character. Builds humility. Builds resentment.”

Locker rooms? They’re fine. But they share a wall. So if the visiting team wins and starts celebrating, the home team gets to hear it. It’s like losing the game and then getting invited to the winner’s party—through drywall.

Now, the turf? Honestly, suspiciously good. You walk on it and think, “This is nice. Did they forget the rest of the stadium?” And they’ve got play clocks, which is great. Because otherwise we’d just be guessing. “Was that delay of game?” “I don’t know, the sun was in my eyes and a jet flew over.”

Coach “Bulldog” Donnie Halverson – Renton High, sometime in the 1900s, wore aviators at night. Once called a timeout just to yell at the sun. Famously said: “We didn’t need perfect sightlines or quiet skies. We needed grit, a good turf, and a play clock that worked. Everything else was just noise—literally, thanks to Boeing.”

He believed in running the ball, ignoring jet engines, and filming game tape through a pole “to build character.” His coaching booth was once mistaken for a storage closet. He didn’t correct them.

Coach “Whispers” Gene Malloy – Lindbergh High, Halverson’s eternal rival wore noise-canceling earmuffs and binoculars. Indoors. Once tried to install blackout curtains on the visitor sideline. His philosophy: “You don’t win games by yelling. You win by whispering the truth into a linebacker’s soul.”

Malloy believed the sun was a distraction sent by rival schools. He once petitioned to rotate the stadium 90 degrees. The school board responded with a restraining order.

The Infamous Jet Game: during a Renton vs. Lindbergh playoff game, a Boeing 737 flew overhead on 4th down. Halverson screamed “RUN THE JET SWEEP!” Malloy whispered “ignore the metaphor.” The play resulted in a touchdown, a broken camera lens, and a referee who retired mid-whistle.

The Locker Room Wall Incident (~1980 something) Renton won a rivalry game and started chanting “East side, best side!” in the home locker room. Lindbergh players, hearing it through the wall, responded with a coordinated stomp routine that cracked a pipe. The stadium flooded. Halverson called it “a tactical draw.”

So yeah. Renton Memorial Stadium. It’s got turf, play clocks, weird history, and a pole that’s probably in your shot. Three stars. Bring sunglasses, noise-canceling headphones, and a candle if you’re trying to summon Coach...

WIAA State Soccer Championship Weekend was very well run and excellently executed. The facility was clean and proper and very nice all around. Easy to get to and an awesome, if not slick, turf surface for sportsing. Renton School District Athletic Director was exceptional in her direction and accommodation of events at the stadium. Not easy to have a smooth-running operation when hosting so many games over two full days. Ms. Walton and the staff and volunteers deserve kudos in making it flawless. Our team didn't win the championship, but support...

Very good field very clean very safe and I loved it out of a 10 I give it a nine I would give it a five which I already did it is a very clean filled and the staff over there is very friendly and I loved it I completely enjoyed it and I think it's safe and I do think that is a wonderful place to go if you want to go or Pastime or if you want to go in the track and field and run and enjoy yourself the weather is nice the traffic is less bad usually there's parking spaces there and not to mention there's a good variety of restaurants...