The new soccer field on Derr Track looks ready to be played on — and it is — but a delay in work on the track around the field will keep the soccer teams from using it until at least late this fall.
Women’s soccer coach Laura Kerrigan said it’s a disappointing situation.
“We’re really frustrated because the field is ready to go and the people here have done such a tremendous job to make sure that we can play on the field this fall,” Kerrigan said. “And now this problem with the track is going to not allow us to start our season down here.”
Associate Athletics Director David Horning said the field was supposed to be ready for the men’s and women’s soccer teams’ fall seasons.
But the task of putting the synthetic surface on the track was pushed back because the earliest date the contractor and sub-contractor could agree on was Aug. 15 after the surface had been originally slated to be put down in late June.
Horning said the delay in the construction schedule is frustrating because the Athletics Department spent $30,000 this summer to sod the field in preparation for the fall season.
“We’re disappointed overall. We ordered the extra sod. We wanted to play UCLA down there. We had some games scheduled,” Horning said. “Had we known it wasn’t going to be ready, we would have sprigged the thing this summer, which would have saved us $30,000.”
For now, all the soccer teams’ home games are tentatively scheduled for Method Road, where games have been played in previous seasons. The hope is that the teams can move into the new stadium before season’s end — but with early October being the earliest according to Horning.
But with the delays that have already sprung up and the potential for others, the teams have to be prepared to play all their games at Method.
“Certainly if everything is complete — we have lights, camera, action, the whole deal — we can go down there and play,” Horning said. “But right now we’re going to schedule everything out for Method just because we don’t know.”
Kerrigan said seeing how nice the grass on the field is makes her crave playing in the new stadium. She said with how up-and-down the process has been, she still holds out a slim hope things will change and the field will somehow be ready in time for the season.
“We hope someone will come and tell us, ‘Hey, we can have this done, and you can play there,'” Kerrigan said.
Until then, she and her players will just have to wait and see how the construction on the track goes, as they have been throughout the summer.
“I know our players are anxious and can’t wait to play,” Kerrigan said. “The ones who have been here during the summer have been watching the project day-by-day and are excited to get going and play in the new stadium.”
But she said her team won’t get down about having to start the season at Method.
“Our players love playing on Method Road too. Method Road is a tremendous surface,” Kerrigan said. “So it’s not going to affect our morale playing on Method Road or playing on Derr Track.”
With the new field, though, will come the ability to have night games because of lights in the stadium. Also, Kerrigan and Horning said it will be a great venue for fans, especially students, with its on-campus location.
With lights attracting attention at night and games within easy walking distance for students, Horning said the new venue should be a success.
“You’re right at the student center. You go there; you get a large Diet Coke; you get some snacks and you go out there and you watch a college softball game, a soccer game, a track meet,” Horning said. “It’s great — it’s going to catch on, and your on-campus marketing of your events and your students going there to enjoy these venues will really be neat.”