The Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education voted Monday to name the district’s newest stadium after the family of a local businessman who founded a nonprofit organization that has worked extensively over the past dozen years to modernize the district’s athletic facilities.
A stadium being built at John Marshall Enterprise High School will be named McLaughlin Family Stadium in honor of Liz and Tim McLaughlin, who founded Fields and Futures, an organization that has completed 70 construction projects at 17 middle and high school campuses throughout the district. Fields and Futures has also established a permanent field maintenance fund to ensure the fields will be maintained well into the future.
The idea behind Fields and Futures, according to Tim McLaughlin, is that there is a direct connection between sports and the academic mission of schools and that every child should have the opportunity to play a sport they love on well-maintained playing fields while taking advantage of the resources and support to enhance their experience.
In addition to his work at Fields and Futures, Tim McLaughlin is also a minority owner of the Oklahoma City Energy of the United Soccer League. He did not attend Monday’s meeting — county officials said he was out of state.
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The stadium – one of the projects of a $955 million bond approved by voters in November 2022 – will be home to the John Marshall Bears and the new Belle Isle Bulls, who will begin competing when Belle Isle Enterprise High School opens in August 2025. The stadium will include facilities for football, soccer and track and field and is being built with a budget of $15.334 million.
There will be food and drink areas and restrooms on both sides of the field. The stadium’s initial capacity will be 2,238, but plans call for expanding the stadium to include 1,160 seats, said Kenneth Dennis, principal in charge of Studio Architecture, the Oklahoma City-based architecture firm hired by the county to design the project.
A feature of the stadium will be lighting elements on the home team’s facade that can change color depending on whether John Marshall or Belle Isle is playing. Approval of the bids will be reviewed by the board on June 24. If approved, construction will begin in August and continue through the summer of 2026.
The board first heard the proposal to name the stadium after the McLaughlin family during its July meeting before taking the formal vote during Monday’s meeting.
“The McLaughlin family’s unwavering support and dedication through Fields and Futures has transformed our district,” said new District Superintendent Jamie Polk. “Having North Regional Stadium named after them is a testament to their lasting impact on our students and our community. This new facility will be a showcase of their legacy and commitment to education and athletics.”
The stadium will join four others already used by Oklahoma City district teams. Three of them – Carl Twidwell Stadium at Star Spencer High School, Moses F. Miller Stadium at Douglass High School and CB Speegle Stadium at Capitol Hill High School – are named after former football coaches. The other, Taft Stadium at Northwest Classen High School, is named after former U.S. President William Howard Taft.
