Oct. 16, 2006
New Lakefront Field
This spring, we will break ground on a new artificial surface field on the northern-most intramural field on the lakefront. The field will be lighted, and will serve as the practice and game field for our men's and women's soccer and women's lacrosse teams. The field also will be used by our club and intramural teams. The field will be made out of the new synthetic grass with rubber and sand infill. This surface (FieldTurf is the best known product) offers many advantages over both the previous synthetic surfaces and natural grass. This new surface looks and plays just like natural grass. The previous artificial surfaces (i.e., Astroturf) were hard and changed the nature of the game played on it, especially a sport like soccer. The biggest advantage of the new surface over natural grass is that you don't have to worry about the athletes chewing up the field.
For instance, since our current soccer and lacrosse field is natural grass, we only allow our soccer and lacrosse teams to play games on the field, due to fear that they would damage the field by practicing on it. Our varsity, club and intramural teams will be able to practice and play on this field throughout most of the year (snow can be plowed off), and under all types of conditions with no fear of damaging the field. The fact that the field will be lighted will greatly increase the scheduling options for the field. In addition, the lights will allow our varsity teams to play night games, which will increase attendance, particularly among students, and allow our student-athletes to attend afternoon classes the day of mid-week night games.
Interestingly, the real impetus for this new field is the University's need for additional parking spots. Early next year, the University will start construction of a new science building in the parking lot directly west of the Allen Center. The loss of these spots would have caused serious parking problems on campus. In order to address these parking concerns, though, our current soccer and lacrosse field will be converted into a parking lot with approximately 700 spots, which increases the total number of spots on campus by over 400 spaces. While an athletic department always hates to give up a field, we felt, for the reasons listed above, it was a win for the University and the athletic department. This new field will be one of the most highly used facilities on campus and will be a great benefit to many student-athletes. The field will have a spectacular setting, with great views of the lake and the Chicago skyline, and will be a huge help to our teams in recruiting.
Great Wins
Three of our fall teams had great wins over the weekend. Our men's and women's soccer teams are both nearing the end of Big Ten regular season play, and are looking to improve their seeding in the conference tournament. Our women's team knocked off No. 16 Indiana, ending Indiana's 13 game streak without a loss (and getting our first win over a ranked opponent since 2004), while the men beat Michigan 2-0. In addition, our volleyball team had a thrilling, come-from-behind victory on Saturday over No. 16 Ohio State.
Homecoming
The campus will be busy this weekend with Homecoming and Reunion activities. We should have a great crowd for our football game against Michigan State. Unlike last year, when Homecoming and Reunion were held on two separate weekends (due to the fact that a joint celebration would have been on Halloween weekend), activities for both events will be on the same weekend. This should be a very competitive football game. Like us, Michigan State is desperate for a win, and it should be a great day for football.