Foster Stadium in Lexington, VA

Basic Information

Stadium: Foster Stadium

Location: Lexington, VA (37.78888, -79.43502)

Owner: Virginia Military Institute (VMI)

Primary sport: football

Year constructed: 1962

Listed capacity: 10,000

Date last visited: November 2024

Stadium information: https://vmikeydets.com/news/2007/12/31/1357385.aspx

Summary Review: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

For many years I had been wanting to watch a game at a military school, and in November 2024 my travel schedule finally coincided with one of my teams playing at VMI.  As I expected, the gameday atmosphere is full of organization, formality, and pageantry.  The stadium offers no comforts or frills whatsoever, not even any backs on any of the seats.  My seat in the 10th row combined with the low November sun angle made it hard for me to see the action on the field.  Also, this stadium has the dreaded running track encircling the field.  Thus, the field view is pretty bad.  VMI football is well-supported only by the students, but the students in uniform are great to watch and listen to.  The video and audio systems are adequate but nothing more.  I wouldn't want to watch a game here every week, but for a one-time visit and a unique military school experience it's not bad.

Detailed Review:

Gameday Atmosphere: My trip to VMI was my first visit to a military school.  I have no military background, but I respect people who do.  VMI definitely has a different atmosphere; it is more structured and mechanical than you will find at any civilian school.  The entire student body comes to the game in uniform and marches onto the field before the game.  There is no marching band or halftime show.  The student section makes up more than half of the entire home fans, and they are very involved in the game.  Every building on campus (including the press box and stadium support buildings) looks like a fort or castle, and every building is painted the same dank light brown color.  While military life isn't for me, there is a certain formal beauty to it all.

Seating: all bench seating with no backs.

Field View: This stadium has the dreaded running track between the stands and the field, but the track goes to the very edge of the field, which is unusual.  The players on the sidelines stand on the track.  This is as close to the field as I have ever been at a stadium with a track.

Audio/Video: 1 nice video board at the east end.  Audio comes only from the east end.  The audio is loud enough but sometimes not very clear.

Concessions/Hot Dogs: The hot dogs are big, and the buns are even bigger, almost hoagy-sized.  They are not particularly flavorful.  These hot dogs are great if you want quantity over quality.

Pedestrian Flow: Foster Stadium has wide concourses and many entrances, so the light pedestrian traffic at VMI games flows fine.

Parking: even though few people travel from off campus to the games, parking is a real problem: the campus layout is so compact there are few places to park.  There is a free garage downtown, but I recommend the free street parking east of the stadium.  Don't park on the street in one of the nearby residential neighborhoods: you can be towed.