The Lower and Upper East Fields at UC Santa Cruz boast picturesque views of the Monterey Bay and Peninsula. But when it comes to accommodating sports teams during winter quarter, the fields are not as impressive.
UCSC is home to 17 NCAA Division III teams, 30 sports club organizations and an array of intramural sports leagues. Teams from all three programs compete for practice and game time on UCSC’s two campus sports fields, with the NCAA teams receiving priority in scheduling.
Due to the limited amount of field space and rain often rendering the fields unusable in the wintertime, sports club organizations have had to seek out off-campus facilities for practices and games. Additional difficulties with the campus facilities and a lack of athletics resources have put an undue burden on student-run sports clubs in particular.
“It’s absolutely embarrassing that our recreational athletics facilities are in the state that they are,” said Jeremy Sanford, the head coach of the men’s and women’s club rugby teams. “There’s high schools in and around the county that are far, far better equipped for athletics than UC Santa Cruz. In this day and age, if you want to recruit and retain students at this university, especially students that have their choice of the top places, and you don’t have reasonable facilities for this kind of stuff, you’re just shooting yourself in the foot.”
City on a Hill Press reached out to assistant director of Athletics and Recreation sports clubs Dillon Thompson, senior associate director of Athletics and Recreation for facility operations and capital planning Clint Angus, and Director of Athletics and Recreation Chris Spells for interviews, but did not hear back before publication.
OUTSOURCING FACILITIES
As grass fields, Upper and Lower East Fields are susceptible to flooding and water damage when it rains, making them unplayable. Per the Upper and Lower East Field facility policies, if there is “heavy rainfall (more than a light drizzle), fields may be closed for a minimum of 48 hours after rainfall ceases.”
In the event of rain, which is relatively common in the wintertime, the burden of finding a secondary location to play at falls onto the teams themselves.
Women’s club lacrosse president and fourth-year biology B.S. major Mary White reported that almost every one of her team’s home games last year had to be played on the turf fields at Santa Cruz High School (SCHS) or Harbor High School due to rain-related closures. Reserving off-campus facilities cost around $250 a game, which the club is responsible for paying itself.
“It is difficult having no turf,” White said. “If we have to practice [off-campus], we have to go to Depot Park, and that’s a long way. I know both club soccer teams do that too. It puts a lot more financial stress on us if we have to outsource [facilities].”
Since UCSC does not have a proper softball or baseball field, the softball team also hosts some of their weekly practices and all of their games at SCHS. The UCSC club team assists with the SCHS softball team’s practices and helps maintain their facility in exchange for field use, said Kenny Calderon, women’s club softball president, athletics maintenance assistant, and second-year politics and legal studies major.
Similarly, for the first five weeks of winter quarter, the men’s and women’s club rugby teams have practiced together at Cabrillo College three times a week, located almost 10 miles from campus. Cabrillo College’s artificial turf field is larger and better illuminated than UCSC’s fields, according to Caden Jacobs, the women’s club rugby president and a fourth-year robotics engineering major. They hosted over 20 practices at Cabrillo last year, which cost the club around $6,500, she said.
In addition to the financial strain, Jacobs spoke to the troubles of coordinating off-campus practice.
“It’s just another step and makes it a little more complicated, because some nights the [campus] van [rentals] aren’t available,” Jacobs said. “And so then we have to scramble to figure out how we’re gonna get everybody there, because we’re practicing at Cabrillo, because the field is closed or the lights are lowered or they’re not working.”
When campus fields were closed during Jacobs’ first two years on the team, before the men’s and women’s rugby teams shared a coaching staff and the women’s team had access to Cabrillo’s facilities, they practiced on the concrete in the East Remote Parking Lot.
CHANGES IN FACILITY ACCESS
While most sports clubs have historically practiced on the Lower East Field during winter quarter, as it drains better and is flatter than the Upper East Field, this year they only have access to the Upper East Field for practice unless there are extenuating circumstances like rain.
The athletics department made the decision to limit access to the lower field in order to better maintain it and reserve it for game day use, according to Jacobs.
Coach Sanford questioned this choice.
“There’s problems with grass, but at the end of the day, what are you protecting it from?” Sanford said. “People need to use it. There’s times throughout the year where the grounds crew can refurbish it, replant grass, fix it up. Let the students enjoy the facilities.”
Jacobs also pointed out that switching a practice from the upper field to the lower field in the event of rain is not always feasible.
“Say that the upper field floods and we can’t have practice,” Jacobs said. “Maybe we’ve got the go ahead to move down to the lower field, but all the lights are still on the upper field, and they’re not gonna get moved down in time for practice to start, so we just have to either cancel or go to Cabrillo again.”
Additionally, a weight room that was open to club teams for strength and conditioning training last year is closed to them this year to make way for more communal use.
“There’s 10 squat racks in there, and you could reserve that room and have time for your team to actually train and do strength and conditioning properly,” Sanford said. “And this year, they said, ‘Nope, can’t do that. It’s got to be open for everyone.’ Meanwhile, what I tend to see is that those rooms are underutilized … When you’re playing a high-impact sport, strength and conditioning is the most important thing for injury prevention.”
LACK OF UNIVERSITY-OWNED FLOODLIGHTS
When the sun sets earlier in the winter, floodlights become necessary to illuminate the field for evening practices. The university, however, doesn’t own any.
In 2017, rugby alumnus George Kaw donated $190,000 to purchase a full set of stadium lights for the rugby team, allowing for nighttime practices that didn’t interfere with players’ class schedules. While the rugby team was given priority access to the lights per the terms of the donation, other teams were able to utilize them so long as it didn’t conflict with rugby practice time.
About two years ago, though, when one of the lights was damaged, the athletics department took them all down for inspection. And repairs for the lights have only begun recently, Jacobs said. Currently, a mix of the rugby lights and lights rented by the university illuminate the Upper East Field at night. As such, the rugby team no longer has priority access.
With the lights distributed around the field rather than concentrated in one area, they have less of an effect, according to Sanford.
“This entire season, the flood lighting was distributed around the upper field,” Sanford said. “It didn’t really illuminate the rugby field at all, so we were training in the dark most of the time. If you’re playing and practicing a truly high-impact sport in suboptimal lighting, it’s pretty dangerous and it shows a real lack of respect for the students.”
The lights are also unable to be used when it’s particularly rainy or windy, as they’re temporary and not secured into the ground.
“As someone who works on the lights, I think there should be a better system, and I think they’re trying to work towards a better system,” said women’s club softball president and athletics maintenance assistant Kenny Calderon. “People forget that these are humans trying to do their jobs, trying to get everyone out there and get everyone active, but those lights are not ideal. It does suck, but that is just what resources they have right now.”
Despite the disadvantages and setbacks suboptimal facilities pose, women’s club lacrosse president Caden Jacobs said the teams’ dedication persists.
“It definitely makes it a little more difficult, but ultimately if the players of the club come together and work hard, they’re able to succeed no matter what the facility conditions are,” Jacobs said. “Those years where we were practicing in the parking lot, it was the support and dedication that all of the teams showed to just continue to come out and work together and get better for each other.”