On June 7, the athletic department broke ground on the new athletic fields complex, a project that cost about $2 million.
Attending sporting events at McGraw-Jennings Athletics Fields complex is a staple of for hardcore Bonnies fans.
This year, and for many years to come, Bonventure faithful will enjoy the luxury of watching soccer, lacrosse and rugby games on the brand-new turf field. This upgrade to the facilities is the school’s first renovation to the athletics fields since 2006, when the baseball field was also converted to turf.
Both the baseball field and these new renovations have been a result of gracious donations made by St. Bonaventure alumnus Tom Marra.
Naturally, I think the majority of students and fans are thrilled to see this upgrade to the school’s athletics fields, which were long overdue for a renovation. However, the question still lingers: how does this benefit non-athlete students?
Primarily, Bonnies fans should be excited for the future of our fall sports.
In recent years, our fall sports teams have been somewhat lack-luster. By installing the turf, the school has joined the majority of other universities throughout the nation that also have similar turf fields.
This allows us to use the new field as a recruiting tool to bring in better players for the programs.
Our men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse and women’s rugby teams have all shown flashes of brilliance in the past couple of year, showing that the programs were already on the rise.
However, after the renovations, the boost in recruiting could give those teams the talent they need to break the threshold into being competitive programs. Even the men’s rugby team will benefit from this, which could lead to more good recruits joining the squad.
Additionally, a turf field is more accommodating for the weather that we experience in western New York. With snow and heavy rain being a large factor for performance, our teams can now compete without having to wade through large patches of mud.
Also, this should cut down on the amount of games that get cancelled due to inclement weather. While the turf is not going to magically turn our teams into national champions, it will greatly increase the quality of play in bad weather.
This is something that many coach or athlete will tell you is crucial when dealing with the elements.
Furthermore, having better facilities will lead to more teams actually wanting to come to our campus to compete. This will ultimately save the school money in the long run by saving money on away trips while also getting revenue for teams coming here. While it is a large investment to make, the turf field is the future of Bonaventure sports and sports in general.
We should be excited to see how the turf field will affect our athletic department in the near future, as well as the long-term effects.
This could be the push our athletic department needs to go from having average fall sports to becoming a fall sports powerhouse.
Of course, this may take some time, but the implications could be awesome. Also, I’m personally excited to be able to play pick-up football or soccer on the turf field without getting my shoe stuck in mud.
Zach Waltz is the Sports Editor at the
Bona Venture. His email is waltzzd12@bonaventure.edu.
