Now We Built It, They Will Come
March 7th, 2007
by Victor Anderson
CSTV Blog
March 7th 2007
UCF Intramural Sports has been recognized around the nation for their All-American officials and National Championship flag football teams. Now, they have something else they can hang their hat on; brand-new playing turf. The new RWC Turf Fields opened for limited use on July 10th and have been receiving nothing but rave reviews ever since the opening. The fields, which are located behind the current IM Sports Grass fields, provide yet another outlet and playing arena for students to use. Although the official grand opening of the RWC Fields will not take place until early-September, the current use of these fields are setting the pace for what should be a huge year for Intramural Sports and UCF Recreation and Wellness.
The thought process for having these turf fields began back when Brian Battles was SGA Student Body President and he formed a committee with Kevin Peters to look into getting new fields on the UCF campus. RWC Associate Director Jim Wilkening was one of the figureheads in charge of getting a field that was suitable to meet the needs of the participants of Intramural Sports.
"I was a chair (man) of a program committee to put together the field project for the student and the committee consisted of both students and staff," Wilkening mentioned. "Within the next year, Peters became Student Body President and that actually continued the momentum of the fields getting built."
These fields were funded by student CITF funds costing 3.2 million dollars for the first phase which is the three fields that are complete. The next phase of this plan will cost 2.8 million dollars and the majority of this will come from the SGA. The final phases cost and funding is currently unknown and will not be known until the first two phases are completed. Within the next 5 years, you will be witness to more expansion and more growth of the Intramural Sports program.
About The Fields
The new turf fields aren’t the same Astroturf fields you grew up watching on television on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. These brand new fields are Momentum 51 fields made by Sportexe, which is the same company who made the fields for the Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints, and the University of Southern Mississippi. The "grass" portion of the turn consists of 70 percent rubber and 30 percent sand which is on top an infilled surface which is made up of 100 percent ground rubber. This turf plays similar to grass, as the rubber and sand mixture that provides a consistent and safe playing surface, unlike previous generations of artificial turf. If you would like more information on the fields, log on to www.sportexe.com. Sportexe is the company that was responsible for building the Omnigrass turf that was installed for the fields.
"What we were looking for is to be a close to grass as we can get and Sportexe provided the best product for us to meet that expectation," Wilkening mentioned.
Intramural Sports Graduate Assistant Steve Anderson (no relation) mentioned how this turf is much safer than the current grass field IM Sports uses.
"We invested in these new fields due to the fact that the current fields couldn’t be maintained well enough leading to sandpits and dead grass," Anderson stated.
The problem with dead grass and sandpits was not only true for the grass fields behind the Barbra Ying Center, but also for the IM Softball Fields as well. Players would consistently inform the referees and supervisors about the multiple holes on the playing field and these fields will surely help ease those fears of being hurt on inadequately maintained fields. Along with the brand new playing surface, the fields are also equipped with a new drainage system which is called Draincore. Wilkening discussed the advantages of having a system like this installed underneath the fields.
"It (Draincore) is hooked in across the entire field and then the drainage is sent to different places based on the drainage system," Wilkening mentioned. Draincore is a chain of circular rounds underneath the infill area and it allows for a faster facilitation of drainage than on the current grass fields. Not only does this new field have one the best and safest playing surfaces in the world, but the addition of lights allow 7 on 7 flag football to be played at nighttime.
Nighttime Is The Right Time
During 7 on 7 flag football’s tenure here at UCF, games would usually be played between 4-6pm from Monday to Friday and from 9 am to 1pm on Saturdays. With the new lights installed, Wilkening sees the eventual shift to full-time football under the lights. "Around the country, that’s not a traditional time to run your Intramural program," Wilkening declared. "We’ll probably see a slow progression into the evenings and the timing will be based on the number of teams. You could see flag football being run between 5-11pm Monday through Thursday."
With the increased availability to play at night, don’t be surprised if IM Sports gains at least 50 more teams for this upcoming season based on the nighttime capability alone. Steve Anderson confirmed this possibility when I talked to him last week.
"There will definitely be an increase (in teams) because there won’t be any waiting list teams like in the past. We used to have a cap on the number of teams," Anderson acknowledged. "Although the increase is definite, we’re not sure the exact numbers to predict."
Last season, almost 150 teams played flag football and this season that number should be near 200 or over.
"I would not be surprised to see us top 200 simply because we have a good playing surface and the ability to play in the evenings," Jim Wilkening said.
Not only will the nighttime capability benefit the players, but it will also benefit WKNT Knightcast who covers IM Sports. Eric Lopez, host of The Sports Guys, is looking forward to WKNT’s debut of flag football under the lights.
"Flag football is without question our most popular and most requested Intramural Sport that we broadcast and the fact they’ll be playing at night will only make that fact even stronger," Lopez confirmed. "The players, their friends, and parents will now be able to listen to them almost immediately after they play on the new fields. That is the part which is most exciting."
Into The Future
The creation of these new turf fields are only the start to a 3-phase plan which will include more fields, restroom/storage facilities, and remodeling of the current grass fields and softball fields.
"It’s all about people finding out and this story will be a benefit to this cause," Wilkening mentioned. "Eventually, we still won’t have enough fields to accommodate everybody. However, what we lack in quantity we surely lack in quality with the turf fields."
In the long run, students and staff will understand that having these fields will only strengthen and enhance the credibility for UCF and their Recreation Services. People I have talked to about the fields who are gone for the summer said that they can’t wait to have their teams and friends take their first steps on the soft, rubbery surface when they return for the fall semester.
In the past, they were looking forward to the future. Ladies and Gentlemen, the future is here for UCF Intramurals, and right now, it’s just as green (if not more) as that grass on the other side of the fence. That is without all the ants and pesticides to deal with.
Entry Filed under: General, Sportexe Products In Play
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