Contributed
The University and a student-led group of four square players are working to decide how a new four square court on campus will be funded.
These students are members of “four square Fridays,” a group that started during the fall of 2007.
Win Pratt, one of the group’s founders, said the group continues to meet every Friday at 4 p.m. and since its founding it has grown from six members to now having as many as 35-40 participants at a time according to one founding father.
A group of students have come together in order to contact the university about building an official brick four square court in between the Turlington and Alexander Residence Halls.
The student started the group as an alternative to the typical college nightlife, Pratt said, and it has grown in popularity in the past year. The idea behind the game came from a story they heard about a student playing four square inside his dorm, he said.
“It’s awesome,” Ross Davidson, a sophomore in computer engineering and another one of the group’s “founding fathers,” said. “We started it to give us something to do on Fridays instead of going out and drinking.”
Pratt said that they began by fashioning a court out of chalk, using the bricks in the courtyard outside Turlington and Alexander as a measuring guide, but continued with duct tape, which was more durable.
Eventually the idea of building an actual court came up during a meeting.
“It kind of started out as a joke until someone suggested we actually e-mail someone about building a brick court,” Pratt said. “So I did that and the e-mail was forwarded to Tom Skolnicki [the University’s landscape architect] who then set up a meeting with me — and now here we are!”
Although skeptical at first, Skolnicki said he believes that building the court is a good idea.
“I didn’t know how many people were involved, but it sounded like a good idea,” said Skolnicki. “When I met with them I found out that there were about 50 people, so it sounded like a pretty big event.”
A four square court is not the only construction upcoming for the courtyard.
“We are working with the sculpture selected by the Chancellor to create three wolf sculptures and the placement of the four square court has to fit in with the sculptures,” said Skolnicki. “Grounds management will be installing landscaping in the courtyard this fall, probably in November.”
Currently the four square court is centered within the planters inside the plaza, however once construction begins it will be relocated, Pratt said.
“We’re reviewing a plan right now that would place the four square court north of where the tape is on site now, slightly closer to the Free Expression Tunnel,” said Skolnicki.
Pratt said he is enthusiastic about the location of the court.
“It’s going to be in a great place, because everyone on central campus passes through the courtyard on their way back from class,” Pratt said. At their meeting, Pratt and Skolnicki said they discussed the dimensions and color for the court. Although there is not a regulation-size four square court, according to Pratt, they have grown accustomed to a court that is approximately 15 by 15 feet.
Initially the students had wanted to use white brick, Pratt said, however a darker brick is under discussion since white brick would take away from the granite set in the planters.
“We are thinking it is going to be in a darker brick, to coordinate with the entire plaza and the materials that are already on site,” Skolnicki said.
Those anxious to play on the official court will not have long to wait, he said.
“Once the funding is identified, it will probably only take a number of days to install as soon as the work is scheduled,” Skolnicki said.
Now that the plan is in action for their court, the group is attempting to establish themselves as an official club and order T-shirts in the near future, according to Pratt.
“We would love for everyone to come play with us Friday at 4 p.m. It’s open to anyone,” Pratt said.
According to Davidson, anyone interested in four square can join the group.
“It doesn’t require a lot of practice and it’s informal,” he said. “We just go out, play and have fun.”