‘Bright’ future for USM athletic facilities
Night games. Ah, night games. They give you that adrenaline rush that you don’t get from anywhere else, you know? It’s even better if it’s a nice playing surface too.
As a former athlete, I can attest that there is nothing better than to step out onto a turf field for a 7 o’clock start under lights high above.
That’s when I thought to myself, why doesn’t USM have lights for its outdoor facilities?
USM has top-notch athletic programs, but they can’t compete under lights like many other schools in the LEC or throughout New England. This has to change soon, and it could possibly be in the near future.
According to USM Athletic Director Al Bean, a turf field with lights is the “top priority” for the athletics department right now. Not only would this type of facility benefit USM athletes and their teams, but it would also serve the general USM student body. The current USM outdoor facilities don’t provide a lot of recreation opportunity for the non-athletes on campus, and that is something that I think needs to change because I know that the importance of campus unity is of high interest.
A new, lighted field could serve as a site for outdoor intramurals, and would eliminate the darkness factor. The luxury of scheduling games up until 9 or 10 o’clock would allow for more participation and a wider array of activities.
Turf would be easy to maintain unlike our current outdoor fields that suffer through harsh Maine winters. A turf field could be plowed off in March, so that the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams could start home games earlier in the year.
What about our baseball and softball complexes? These facilities are known as two of the best in the Little East Conference. The addition of lights and turf to these fields would serves as an opportunity for our baseball and softball teams to have day/night double headers, and would provide the fans with a great atmosphere to watch games in. A school is not even eligible to put in a bid to host an NCAA East Regional in baseball or softball if they don’t have lights, a fact that has kept USM from hosting despite the field’s otherwise worthy traits. Also, the baseball and softball teams would be able to start their outdoor season early due to the easy access of clearing the field off. This would serve as a huge advantage as most schools in New England don’t get outside until after they come back from their spring trips.
Athletic additions like this always stir up questions in one area; the budget.
“Because of the University’s limited funds, we would definitely have to raise the money ourselves in order to get this type of facility, and we are working very hard in doing so,” Bean says.
This could be done in a number of realistic ways including bottle drives, and alumni and private donations. Whatever the approach may be, money needs to be made to get this project going because I feel it is crucial for the development and future of our athletics department.
“This project has to happen soon for us” Bean mentioned. “We have to be successful in doing this for the sake of all of our athletics programs and our students. It is very important.”
The addition of lights and turf to USM would not only make our athletic facilities some of the best in New England, but it would strengthen our reputation as one of the best Division III athletic departments in the country.