The new sports facilities for Pace are scheduled to begin construction this summer.
The plan is to upgrade the multi-purpose field, mainly used by the football and lacrosse teams, with new lighting, seating, and artificial turf, while also improving Finnerty Field (baseball field) with new lighting and turf. The softball field will be entirely redone, giving the team a new and fresh setting.
In addition, a new field house will be created, which will be located in the south end of the multipurpose field. It will include weight-rooms, locker rooms, a sports medicine facility, meeting spaces, as well as offices.
According to the Pace website, the new facilities are meant to provide student-athletes with the tools “to train and compete at an even higher level.”
Not only will the new facilities help current student-athletes, they will also be an incentive for future athletes to come to Pace.
“I think it will definitely help recruiting in the future,” said tight end Luiz Ribeiro, a sophomore majoring in finance. “I think it could convince students to come here and play for our teams. Our facilities are not really at the same level as some of the other school’s, so I think that new and improved facilities will definitely give Pace an advantage.”
Senior marketing major Toni-Ann Derby believes that the new facilities “will attract new players because they will show that Pace is invested in its athletes. “
“Especially with two new teams [women’s field hockey and lacrosse] being formed at Pace for 2015, the new facilities coming at around the same time definitely show Pace’s commitment to its athletes and sports teams,” Derby said.
Enhancing the recruiting efforts will certainly help improve the sports teams at Pace, which in turn could very well help increase school spirit at Pace.
Currently there are two campuses, one in Pleasantville and one in Briarcliff, essentially dividing the students into two communities, thus isolating some from the various sporting events that go on throughout the year, given that various modes of transportation need to be taken in order to get from one campus to another.
Unfortunately, a lot of times students do not want to make the trip on the weekends to the Pleasantville campus in order to catch a game, so consolidating two campuses into one is sure to make it easier for students.
Having everyone in one area, according to Mark Brown, Director of Athletics at Pace, should “enhance the campus life, thus promoting a new sense of school spirit.”
Derby is one that hopes that the new facilities and consolidation will help increase school spirit at Pace, believing strongly in the idea of students supporting their teams.
“Pace students should get out of their dorms and support all the teams,” Derby said. “It’s a lot of fun to go to games with your friends and you also get to meet new people. Plus, college athletes are doing what they love, and as a community, we should support each other. Win or lose, we are one team.”
Sports have become a form of entertainment, and that is something that the new head coach for the Pace Football team understands.
“I think that students are very receptive to the idea that it’s not just a game, it’s an event,” head coach Andrew Rondeau said.