COLUMBIA — South Carolina is installing a state-of-art grass field and drainage system at Gamecock soccer’s Stone Stadium.

The renovations are expected to cost about $400,000 and be completed by August. Men’s coach Mark Berson said the improvements will make the surface one of the best and most reliable in the country.

There have been instances in the past where the field was unplayable.

Women’s coach Shelley Smith remembered playing Florida in a 2006 game as the rain kept falling. It went into overtime and puddles of standing water squished up with every free kick and contested ball.

“We just decided to call it,” Smith said, the game ending at 1-1.

Berson said home NCAA contests against American in 1985 and Duke in 1995, both 2-0 losses, were marred by bad weather. “You don’t want to lose the home field advantage,” he said.

The revamped field will have a sand base and a complex, modern drainage system. The bumps and ruts of the past will be gone, replaced by a laser-graded, grass showpiece. The completed surface should easily hold up to the 20 or so games played by the two teams during the fall season, Berson said.

The project should be finished a few weeks before the men open at home against High Point on Aug. 25. The women first play there against College of Charleston on Aug. 27.

The upgrade is the latest in South Carolina’s plan to overhaul its aging athletic complex. The athletic department opened a $35.6 million baseball stadium in February. Directly across from the stadium, nicknamed The Graveyard because it’s alongside the House of Peace cemetery, is the rising $13 million Dodie Anderson Academic Enrichment Center.

Athletic director Eric Hyman has plans for more than $150 million in additional improvements expected to reshape most sports offices, practice fields and competition venues.

In April, university trustees approved $49.9 million for athletic projects, including a 12-court tennis center, an administrative building and a parking garage.

Berson, who began the NCAA program in 1978, remembers during that inaugural soccer year when he and his players unloaded bleachers from a truck so fans could have a place to sit at varsity games.

Despite field deficiencies, both soccer programs have thrived.

Berson has had just two losing campaigns in 31 seasons in charge of the Gamecocks. He’s made the NCAA tournament 18 times and produced such U.S. soccer stars as Josh Wolff, Clint Mathis and current national team member, goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

Smith’s made her mark here as well with only one losing season since 2001 and consecutive NCAA appearances in 2007 and 2008 for the first time in program history. In Sept. 2007, the Gamecocks opened the season with a 1-0 victory at powerhouse North Carolina.

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