A lack of proper time for maintenance and chronic overuse have deteriorated N.C. State’s intramural fields, and students like Matt Kelly are concerned they are becoming too worn down.

The University makes the fields available to students during the academic year, except in rainy weather. Since they are used nearly every day, their degradation is only increasing, which Kelly said he wants changed.

“The fields are in poor condition.  They’re dry, patchy, and are mostly dirt—especially in the upper fields—which is where we play soccer,” Kelly, a junior in environmental design in architecture, said. “I definitely wish they were in better condition.”

According to Jason Spivey, assistant director of intramural sports, it would be virtually impossible to repair the fields during the semester since the intramural sports teams and physical education classes use them every day.

Spivey said in order to truly restore the fields they would have to be closed on certain days, which would severely limit the intramural sports schedule.

“It is a challenge to keep these fields in good condition,” Spivey said. “We are working around a lot of teams and classes, and that makes it difficult to really restore them.”

During the summer when most students are on break, the fields are treated as best as possible to return them to good condition.

Yet according to Spivey, it is difficult to keep the fields well-maintained due to all of the student use. As a result, by the spring semester the fields have lost most of the grass replanted over the summer.

However, despite the poor quality of the fields, Spivey said they are completely safe for student use and that the field deterioration is strictly from student overuse.

“The fields are in safe playing condition, and that is the most important thing,” Spivey said. “They do get beat down throughout the year with all of the student and class use, but overall they are safe.”

Michael Prechter, a senior in polymer and color chemistry, said one of the best solutions would be to make more fields available for student use, as games on the current fields tend to get very crowded due to limited space.

“We simply don’t have enough fields.  Games end up getting way too crowded and it just isn’t as fun to play anymore,” Prechter said. “Obviously it’s tough to add more fields because we live in Raleigh, which is a city. I just really think that this is the only solution to the problem.”

However, there has not been any discussion recently of adding more intramural fields.

Instead, the University works with facility grounds maintenance to maintain the fields.  A maintenance schedule is made at the beginning of each academic year.

Although the University has a major in turf management, students within the major are not currently involved with field maintenance.  Spivey said the University might be open to allowing students to assist with these tasks in the future.

“We would definitely be open to the idea of using students for that maintenance,” Spivey said. “We would need to use different logistics to make it work, but it is possible.”

According to Prechter, the main problem with trying to maintain the fields is deciding whether or not to close them on a regular basis for maintenance. He says students want the fields in good condition, but do not want to give up playing time to have them cared for.

“It’s tricky because I wouldn’t want them to close them off,” Prechter said. “But, I do want better conditions.”