Bucknell University Athletics
Varsity Soccer/West Fields Project
9/28/2004 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Photo Gallery Update of Construction - Updated July 29, 2005
Sept. 28, 2004
BISON ATHLETICS: SETTING THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE
Bucknell University has a rich and storied tradition of combining athletic and academic excellence that has showcased our scholar-athlete model to a national audience. This past year, the Bison collected their seventh consecutive Patriot League President's Cup, signifying overall athletic achievement, and their 11th in the 14-year history of the league. Bucknell also led the nation in student-athlete graduation rates with 100% matriculation and stands third among all Division I institutions with 107 Academic All-Americans since 1970.
THE BISON SOCCER PROGRAMS
The men's soccer program at Bucknell dates back to the 1920s as one of Bucknell's oldest and most successful athletic teams. The women's soccer program, which became a varsity sport in 1989, has experienced recent success and has joined the men's team in the upper tier of the Patriot League standings on a yearly basis. Recent accomplishments include:
• 2003 men's Patriot League regular season champions.
• 2003 men's Patriot League Offensive (Scott Visnic '06) and Defensive (Michael Lookingland '05) Player of the Year.
• Jonathan Hemmert '05 earned Academic All-America honors in 2003 as well as being named the Patriot League Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete for this past season.
• Men's head coach Brendan Nash was named NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year as well as being tabbed Patriot League Coach of the Year for the second time (2000).
• Bison men's soccer defeated #2 Maryland at Maryland on November 4, 2003 which is the highest nationally ranked team ever defeated by a Bison athletic squad.
• The Bison women's soccer program captured the League Tournament Championship in 2001 en route to their first NCAA Tournament appearance.
• Six former Bison soccer players have been inducted into the Bucknell Athletic Hall of Fame.
• Thirty-one soccer student-athletes made the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll in 2003.
• Both programs have earned the NSCAA Team Academic Awards with the women being recognized in each of the past eight years and the men seven of the past eight years. To receive the award, a team must maintain a 3.0 GPA for a full school year.
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THE NEED FOR A VARSITY SOCCER FACILITY
As the Bison programs, and the rest of the Patriot League, have increased their regional and national competitiveness, many schools have upgraded their facilities in order to provide their student-athletes with a high level Division I experience. Currently the quality of Bucknell's soccer facilities are at or near the bottom of the conference, hindering the program in many areas including recruiting, competitive scheduling and quality practice time. In many instances, the programs struggle to get teams to come and play at our current facility, especially those ranked in the Top 25. Lehigh and Navy have recently built new facilities for their soccer programs, joining American, Army, Colgate and Lafayette atop the conference in terms of competition venue. A new soccer field would bring the Bison programs back in line with their national Division I competition. Also, along with the recently completed Graham Field for women's lacrosse and field hockey, it would enhance the West Fields Complex into one of the premier outdoor facilities in the Patriot League. After relocating the soccer field to Practice Field C to accommodate the Kenneth Langone Athletics and Recreation Center in 2001, our teams have faced problems because of a variety of limitations posed by Practice Field C. These limitations, which would be remedied with the addition of a new soccer facility, are outlined below.
1. Playing Surface: The natural-grass playing surface is naturally sloped and has areas that become "marshy" with the onset of precipitation. Because of the insufficient drainage and unevenness of the playing surface, a number of intercollegiate contests have been cancelled or rescheduled at the expense of the Department of Athletics. It also poses potential injury risk to our student-athletes who must adjust to the inconsistencies of the playing surface.
2. Lighting: Due to the location of the field in relation to Lewisburg's residential housing, Bucknell's physical plant has determined that the township and borough will not allow field lighting to be erected on Practice Field C. In the previous field location adjacent to the former Freas-Rooke Pool, the field had lights which enabled the soccer programs to: (1) host evening competitions in order to minimize missed class time for home events;(2) have a practice venue during late fall when daylight savings time brings darkness at 5 p.m. (now the varsity program must take priority over our recreational and intramural activities in the use of the lighted field); and, (3) host weekend tournaments and championship competition at home rather than traveling and missing additional class time. The proposed location of the new field would accommodate appropriate field lighting.
3. NCAA Facility Evaluation: The condition of `Practice Field C' prevents the University from hosting any round of NCAA championships, even if our student-athletes earn the right to host the competition. Specifically, when determining host sites for preliminary rounds of NCAA championships, the NCAA uses a formula that provides point values for facility amenities such as field playability, lights, seating, fencing, parking, team areas, etc. and given the current condition of Practice Field C, the facility falls well short of being eligible to host any post-season competition.
4. Recruiting Hindrances: When attempting to recruit the best and the brightest student-athletes to Bucknell, our coaches must address student concerns about the inadequate facility, and direct comparisons to the superior facilities found at other Patriot League and Ivy institutions. The quality of a facility does impact whether a student-athlete chooses to attend a particular institution.
THE WEST FIELDS COMPLEX
Planning has begun for the construction of a new soccer field and support facility with the construction slated to begin once the appropriate level of gifts and pledges have been received. The new field will be placed adjacent to the recently dedicated Graham Field, which serves as the playing surface for our field hockey and women's lacrosse programs. The new structure will also include many amenities not previously available to the student-athletes and fans who participate in and attend varsity events on the West Fields. Some of the highlights of the new venue include:
• Competition venue for men's and women's soccer. The venue will also be used for recreation purposes including intramural championships.
• Natural grass soccer pitch that can be groomed at a short length and remain green for the fall season.
• Size of the playing surface would be 75 yards by 120 yards, along with an additional 20-foot border around the entire field.
• Shared fan seating area with bleachers for both Graham Field and the new soccer field with 750-1000 seats per side encompassing 6-8 rows.
• Ticket booth at the entrance to the fields which would service both facilities for post-season and championship events.
• Concession stands with the ability to service both venues.
• Restroom facilities which can support attendance of 1000 or more patrons.
• Half-time rooms for participating teams with bathroom facilities for four teams.
• Design of public address/sound system to accommodate multiple events side-by-side.
• Elevated, two-story press box facility (with operating windows and climate control) that has full vision through all four sides. The first level will have a minimum seating capacity of 6 persons per side. The second level shall have enough space for three video camera locations.
• Standard NCAA field lighting foot-candles.
• Standard LED scoreboard with home/visitor score, period, game and clock, advertising panel(s).
• Equipment including soccer goals, moveable lacrosse goals, team benches, official's table, corner flag markers.
• Controllable irrigation system that minimizes (or eliminates) the number and size of sprinkler heads inside the playing surface.
The soccer field and supporting infrastructure will cost approximately $2.2 million to complete. Construction is currently anticipated to begin in early 2005 and be completed by August 2005. However, additional gifts and pledges are still needed for this project before construction can begin. Bucknell and Bison Athletics are hopeful that alumni, parents and friends will embrace this project by contributing to this initiative, and provide current and future student-athletes with a state-of-the-art facility that supports the national focus of the Bison soccer programs.
To find out how you can support Bucknell's new soccer field and the entire West Fields project, please contact:
Scott Rosevear, Ph.D.
Director of Capital Gifts and Campaign Director
University Relations
Bucknell University
Lewisburg, PA 17837
(570) 577-3647
srosevea@bucknell.edu
