GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A visit to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium is like stepping into a favorite room in the house for Clare Peacock, an avid supporter of Gators softball and a sport that has become one of the most popular on UF's campus.
A longtime Clearwater resident in the middle of making her full-time home in Gainesville, Peacock has spent countless days and nights in the stands at softball games. Her daughters, Helen and Stephanie, grew up playing the game with Clearwater For Youth, an athletics program established in 1972 in Pinellas County.
Peacock cheered them on, relishing moments unfamiliar in the scrapbook of her youth.
"When I was young, we didn't get the chance to go out and play softball," Peacock said recently. "We had a good time. The kids did a wonderful job, and they got a lot of good friends out of it."
That was 30 years ago. Peacock's daughters have grown up, earned their undergraduate degrees at UF, and established successful careers. Helen is an attorney in Jacksonville, and Stephanie is a radiologist in North Carolina.
Still, the game brings them together.
Gators softball coach Tim Walton with Gators Booster Clare Peacock, third from left, and her daughters Helen Roberson, far left, and Stephanie Peacock, far right. (Photo: Courtesy of Clare Peacock family)
Most of the time, that is at Pressly Stadium to root for Florida's powerhouse program. Peacock pulls for all UF teams, though softball tends to tug at the family's heartstrings the most. Peacock's two grandsons are baseball players who never pass up a trip to watch Gators coach
Tim Walton's team.
"
Cheyenne Lindsey was their hero,'' Peacock said. "She was the first person that they ever saw hit a home run. They are going to be so disappointed that she is not there this year."
Peacock's passion for the Gators softball team is not limited to cheering in the stands. As a Gators Booster, Peacock contributed a pair of financial gifts to the KSP Stadium renovation in 2019, and the home locker room at the facility is named the Clare Peacock Family Locker Room. Peacock's late husband, Ray Peacock, earned his accounting and law degrees from UF and formed a thriving practice that has served the Tampa Bay area for 40 years.
Peacock's latest financial contribution is one that everyone can enjoy. The Gators installed a modernized and larger-scale videoboard beyond the outfield wall this week that will be in operation when Florida hosts Jacksonville in its home opener on Feb. 15.
The Daktronics LED videoboard, which stands 23 feet high and 41 feet wide, is an upgrade that Walton and athletic director Scott Stricklin discussed as they did their walk-through at KSP Stadium when the $15 million renovation neared completion.
"You build this beautiful stadium … and now the scoreboard is outdated,'' Walton recalled. "The new scoreboard is going to be a great piece to not only the fan-engagement piece – being able to do more things with a brand-new and updated scoreboard – but the size of the scoreboard, being able to see everything from every seat on the field side.
"I think it's great. It's going to impact us. It's going to be a cool experience whether you come in here for the first time or you are a season-ticket holder. It's going to be an A-plus move."
Peacock is grateful to be able to contribute. She worked as a math teacher for 11 years following her graduation from UF and spent time as a realtor. When her husband left a more prominent law firm to start his practice, she helped him launch what became Peacock, Gaffney & Damianakis.
Peacock swung at the opportunity to upgrade the fan experience at KSP Stadium as she spends less time at work and more on her outside interests.
If you want to find her this spring, a good place to look is at the corner of Hull Road and Museum Drive.
"It's like home,'' Peacock said. "Coach Walton has been so accepting and gracious in all his speaking and conversations with me. He sent me my very first bat. I won't let my grandkids touch it.
"He was so appreciative when the new building got built. It's just been a tremendous upgrade for all the time and effort he puts into it, and the results he gets are phenomenal. The joy the girls get out of it makes me feel really good."
While Peacock has been a regular at KSP Stadium for many years, Walton did not know her until a UAA initiative during the Covid-19 pandemic partnered UF head coaches with boosters with a particular interest in their respective sport.
They made a connection, and now, thanks to Peacock's generosity, the Gators have a scoreboard worthy of the program's standing.
"It was really taking a negative and turning into a positive," Walton said. "She has been not only a really good supporter but a booster and someone who is really doing it for the girls. She has impacted our game."
