A lack of field space at AU has left the university's club sports teams struggling to find time and space to practice, according to some sports club presidents. Construction by the Army Corps of Engineers and growth in the number of intramural teams has contributed to the shortage.
The field shortage is affecting nearly every club team.
The women's field hockey club team needed to cancel one game and relocate to another due to turf maintenance, according to club team co-president Rebecca Prowler, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Science and the School of Communication.
The club softball team can only practice for two hours per week since it is too expensive to move practices, according to team president Joanna Blatchly, a senior in the School of International Service.
The women's club field hockey team had to relocate their game on Sept. 13 to the field of one of their opponents, Loyola College, three days prior to the games on Sept. 10, Prowler said. They cancelled their Sunday game after the team received an e-mail Friday, which said they could not use the turf field on because of maintenance. The team was unable to contact anyone to reschedule and was forced to cancel their game.
"This inconvenienced our team, the University of Maryland's team, the two officials that we had hired and even fans that wanted to come and watch our first home game," Prowler said. "Our team is representing [AU]. We made a commitment to Loyola and UMD and our reputation as a team is on the line."
As the team is limited to one practice time per week on AU's turf field, the players have also needed to practice on the Van Ness triangle, where bumpy grass, nearby cars and balls that stray into the street make practice play difficult, according to team co-president Nicole Davies, a sophomore in CAS and SOC.
"The [Van Ness] triangle is small and uneven," she said. "There are no lines and no cages. All of the games we play are on turf, yet we have no assigned turf time to practice our skills."
The women's club soccer team has had similar challenges, according to Kensi Wolgamott, the club team's president and a junior in CAS and SIS. She said AU's club and intramural sports teams generally use the Tenley campus field.
"We were informed by our director that the field manager at Tenley campus was concerned that the students at Tenley did not have enough access to the field," she said. "And so the space became even more limited than years past. The major issue with this is that we have no other options for places to practice."
The club presidents and Jocelyn Hill, AU's director of Recreational Sports and Fitness, cite the growing number of athletic teams and the Army Corps of Engineers project as the causes of the field scarcity.
"The root of the problem seems to be the increasing interest in athletics at AU," Blatchly said. "There are more club sports and intramural teams than there is field space to accommodate them. Intramurals are also given priority over club sports when it comes to field time, which severely limits the availability of the turf during intramural season."
The softball team would like to practice twice a week since the players compete on a competitive level. However, the softball diamond is located next to the varsity turf, so the team's practices are limited to once a week - Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m., when the varsity field is not in use, she said.
Field space at AU is lacking and the school fields cannot accommodate every club and intramural team, according to Hill.
"Although we do not want to deny the formation of any club, those clubs that need a field will have to understand that they will need to find another place to practice in addition to using fields on campus," she said.
The process to obtain alternative practice space can be difficult and expensive, according to Blatchly. She said she would like to see AU partner with D.C. Parks and Recreation to help lower the cost of alternative field time or for the university to provide a "subsidy" to club sports teams to help cover the cost of practicing off campus, she said.
In addition to the large number of teams needing practice space, the Army Corps of Engineers project has limited the amount of field space available, Hill said.
"Until the issue with digging around our campus is resolved, it will continue to be a problem," she said. "There will be times when there are emergencies and the field will need immediate repair and times when we are at the mercy of contractors to get work done. We regret any time practice time lost, but this is what we are dealing with right now."
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.
