By Simmons College Athletics

This weekend, after five years of planning and construction, we celebrated the grand opening of Daly Field—the new home of the Simmons field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, and tennis teams.

At Simmons, we’re proud of our commitment to leadership development for girls and women, and to community engagement more broadly. Daly Field also serves the diverse athletic and recreational needs of the Allston-Brighton community.

On Friday, Sept. 9, Brighton’s football team, the Brighton Bengals, hosted their first home game in over 25 years. In his welcome, Dan Cuddy, Senior Career Specialist with the Boston Private Industry Council and community activist, explained what this state-of-the-art field means to the Allston-Brighton community.

What a historic night for Brighton High and our entire community! For the first time in over 25 years, our football players are hosting a home game, and it feels great. And look at our home field! This is state-of-the-art, the finest in New England!

Simmons committed tremendous resources to Daly Field including all the necessary funding. Simmons also devoted extraordinary amounts of time, expertise, and leadership to make Daly usable again as our home field. We would not be here tonight without Simmons.

Before cutting the ribbon at Daly Field on Saturday, Sept. 10, President Helen Drinan shared her thoughts on the opening of Daly Field:

“We are so proud of this amazing facility. For those of you who had a chance to see what this site looked like before Simmons College and the Friends of Daly Field stepped in, you can fully appreciate the magnitude of the transformation.”

And transformation is an excellent word to use when considering Daly Field. We have transformed a worn out, derelict, neglected field, unfit for play, into what you see today: modern, environmentally sound athletics complex that will serve Simmons student-athletes, Brighton High School student-athletes, the Allston-Brighton Little League, the neighborhoods of Boston, Newton, Watertown, and the general public for the next 30 years.

Daly Field also enables our young women to serve as role models for the young people of Brighton High School. As our student-athletes display skill, teamwork, and leadership, they will inspire other young women to be the best they can be on and off the field of play.