Tracy Press

— Wayne Schneider, former Tracy Highfootball coach

Wayne Schneider will be honored at Friday’s game at Tracy High School. Bob Brownne/Tracy Press

When the Tracy Unified School District went about the business of naming new sports facilities, it faced the quandary of how to honor local sports figures and still name its fields and stadiums in a manner that would be consistent with their contributions.

With a new stadium planned at West High, the district found that the leading name in local football had his winning career at Tracy High.

“If a stadium was named for me, I’d want it to be at Tracy High,” Wayne Schneider, Bulldog varsity coach for 29 years, said.

And that’s what the district did, keeping the field name in honor of Peter B. Kyne and naming the stadium for Schneider.

“I think it’s a great honor,” Schneider said. “I’ve been fortunate in coaching to have a few honors. This would top it, to have a stadium named after you.”

The stadium will be dedicated at 6:45 p.m. Friday between the sophomore and varsity contests between Tracy and Los Banos in the first game of the season.

The new stadium at West High is named for West coach Steve Lopez. That dedication ceremony will be Sept. 19.

Schneider started as the Bulldogs’ coach in 1965. Football was the main event in the fall, and fans in Tracy wanted a coach who could guide the team to victory over the rival Manteca Buffaloes.

“We were told if you didn’t beat Manteca, you wouldn’t be here long,” he said.

He got that crucial win his first year, and through 1994 when he retired, Schneider led the Bulldogs to a 224-58-4 record, with 12 league titles and two Sac-Joaquin Section championships. The squad’s only losing season was 1972, when Tracy had a 4-6 record, with three of those losses in close games.

Schneider said Tracy’s success was based on a tough preseason, and the coaches’ efforts to create winning teams on freshman, sophomore and varsity levels.

“Our kids knew if they could beat Lincoln as freshmen and as sophomores, they could beat Lincoln as varsity.”

He added that the team’s coaches also are dedicated to the team year-after-year.

“I never had to look for coaches unless someone retired,” he said.

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