The intramural fields have been under construction since Fall 2017 and will remain that way for the entirety of the Spring 2018 semester. There have been many delays due to the inclement weather, such as the recent flooding and snow conditions.
Reconstruction of the fields is a prominent issue for Huntsville. The fields tend to fill up quickly, drain slowly and flood the rest of the city. Therefore, piping and alternate draining routes are being redone and put in place as part of Huntsville’s Town Creek project.
Stephen Montee, graduate assistant for Intramural Sports, spoke positively about the program and how well they are managing with the setback.
“We are handling the use of just one field rather well actually,” Montee said. “We don’t seem to have any fewer participants or programs.”
The Intramural Sports teams went from having access to three fields to using one off-campus field – Holleman Field. It is behind Potato Shack and is split into two parts so that multiple games can be played.
Having all the intramural games on one field has helped some players be at the right place at the right time. Players would often get mixed up on which field to be at and at which time. Some students play multiple sports, and some sports may have multiple games in a day, which causes confusion for players. The downside to Holleman field is its location off-campus.
“It may discourage some students to join because it is a little further of a walk,” Montee said.
According to Ashley Dee, a rugby player at Sam Houston State University, the number of intramural participants has remained the same thus far, but due to the poor conditions of Holleman Field, she fears some may be lost along the way.
“Holleman has become a low-quality field for our playing, especially with there being so many ditches that need covering and with the field mainly being just dirt it’s really difficult to play on,” Dee said. “It’s sort of an inconvenience. There’s this huge ditch on Holleman Field, and a lot of us try to avoid it because we want to keep our ankles. Plus, the bathrooms could use some serious updating.”
Holleman Field being off-campus is a major struggle for those on the rugby team, since they have equipment to transfer from Pritchett Field to Holleman Field. Pritchett Field would be the ideal field for the team to play at, but it does not have any lights.
“For us, specifically as the rugby team, it’s not easy having to get our stuff from the rugby shed that’s at Pritchett and then have to truck all the way to Holleman,” Dee said. “If anything, it would be preferable that all of our games would be at Pritchett.”
Players continue to push through the inconveniences of limited field space, and they do not seem to let it stop them from playing their favorite sports. It seems that all the Intramural Sports teams would like to see changes soon so that playing conditions are safer and more convenient for everyone.
