By Staff
Coaching Management, 12.9, October 2004, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/cm/cm1209/bbfairleighdickinson.htm
When Fairleigh Dickinson University launched its softball program four years ago, the team had no home. Today, they play and practice at one of the premiere softball facilities in their region. And for the team, the school, and the community, what a difference a field makes.
"In our first and second years as a program, we played in local parks. It was hard because we’d have to work around the schedules of the town’s rec programs," says Head Coach Bob Bruno. "Then the season before last, we had absolutely no field, so we played all of our games on the road, and had nowhere to practice except our fieldhouse and gymnasium." All that travel took its toll on the team, which finished its third season 3-17 in Northeast Conference play.
But better days were ahead. In the summer of 2003, FDU broke ground on campus for a brand new softball facility, which includes seating for 500 spectators, an underground sprinkler system for the outfield, concrete dugouts, and an on-site storage facility. It also features a lighting system, which administrators and the athletic department decided was a priority.
"In the original conception there were no lights, so we asked the architects to add them to their drawings so we could evaluate the idea," says Provost Joseph Kiernan. "Between my office, the coach, and the athletic department, we decided that we wanted to light the field."
A lengthy approval process involving the state of New Jersey and the local planning board in Hackensack held up the construction process, and winter arrived before the field was finished, suspending work for several months. But by the time the 2004 softball season began, the field was ready for action.
The FDU Knights played their first home game on March 27. Soon after, they hosted an opening ceremony to introduce the new field to the school and the community. "We had the mayor, the provost, and one of our seniors throw out first pitches, and the athletic director said a few words," Bruno says. "We also had a barbecue and gave out T-shirts. We made a nice day of it."
The team’s success at the new field has been a testament to the power of home-field advantage. The Knights had their best season ever, posting a 10-10 conference record and just barely missing their first postseason berth. "It gave us a whole new perspective," Bruno says. "We could finally say, ‘This is mine. I’m proud of it, and I’m going to play hard here.’ That was so important to the kids, and it really brought the team together."
Bruno points to the lighting as the best part of the new facility. "Playing night games is so special for us," he says. "Parents get to come and see their kids during the week, and local residents come out at night to watch our games. Before, a lot of people didn’t even know we had a softball team."
In addition to what it’s done for the team and the campus, the new facility is having an impact on the community. In April, the university hosted a charity softball event that raised over $4,000 for the Hackensack-based Tomorrows Children’s Fund.
"We had university faculty and staff out on the field playing against a team from the WFAN radio station, and hundreds of people came out to support us," says Ann Gulino, Assistant Director of Athletics. "It was a great success, and they can’t wait to come back next year." The athletic department is now looking into hosting state playoff games and high school championships, and there’s been talk of holding a youth softball camp in the future.
But Gulino says the most gratifying thing about the new field was seeing the seniors finally getting a chance to play on a first-class field in front of a hometown crowd. "I was so glad that it happened in time for them to play a full season on it," she says. "It was special for all the kids. To a person, they were so happy to have a place they could call home."