UND Fan Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 This is a response to star2city's post under "Announcement Soon" in "other UND topics". It probably should be discussed here. He stated that with UND BB and VB moving to a new facility and with the new Wellness Center that will be built, that UND sports of FB, track, baseball, softball, soccer, etc. would have plenty of room for indoor practicing. I, as well as all of the involved coaches, will really disagree with that. First of all, the new Wellness Center is at least a couple of years away. More importantly, there really isn't room for one of these sports to adequately practice, let alone 2 or 3 of them at the same time which often happens as normal practice times are mid or late afternoons (after most classes are done for the day). Obviously, the only one of these sports that actually would hold competition in Hyslop are the track teams. Our small oval and poor facility for hosting non-running events is very embarrassing and one of the reasons that our Track teams are average at best. With the ND climate, much of the preparation takes place inside. It is impossible to effectively work out for track events when other sports are attempting to practice in Hyslop. Hosting HS track meets is also an embarrassment at UND due to the facility. UND has (or will have after the BB/VB addition is completed) nearly the best facilities in DII for hosting athletic events. However, compared to the other top DII schools, our practice facilities are near the bottom. With our climate, having a first rate indoor practice and track facility will allow us to greatly improve our recruiting efficiencies - in FB as well as the sports disccussed above. Bottom line - we will be better in all these sports! Fortunately Tom Clifford agrees with this and may take the lead in getting a facility off the ground in the relatievely near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND92,96 Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 Our small oval and poor facility for hosting non-running events is very embarrassing and one of the reasons that our Track teams are average at best. With the ND climate, much of the preparation takes place inside. It is impossible to effectively work out for track events when other sports are attempting to practice in Hyslop. Hosting HS track meets is also an embarrassment at UND due to the facility. UND has (or will have after the BB/VB addition is completed) nearly the best facilities in DII for hosting athletic events. However, compared to the other top DII schools, our practice facilities are near the bottom. With our climate, having a first rate indoor practice and track facility will allow us to greatly improve our recruiting efficiencies - in FB as well as the sports disccussed above. Bottom line - we will be better in all these sports! Fortunately Tom Clifford agrees with this and may take the lead in getting a facility off the ground in the relatievely near future. I couldn't agree more regarding the indoor track. It has been approximately 15 years since the Grand Forks high schools have even had an indoor meet there, and the only meets now are a few of the NE North Dakota Class B schools a couple of times a year. It's horrible. I'm as big of a track fan as anyone, but without a decent indoor track, having a track program is almost pointless. It's hard for me to believe that nothing has been done about this yet as it has been a problem for a long, long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 There's an interesting article in today's Grand Forks Herald about this subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND Fan Posted December 31, 2003 Author Share Posted December 31, 2003 That article was timely for this discussion, wasn't it? Although all conversations regarding the Old Ralph have been related to Athletics, I know that the EERC would love to have that property for their growth. I think that is prompting the Athletic Department to move a little quicker than they may have otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bisonguy Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 UND 92,96 How would you classify NDSU's track facilities (sans Schlanser Track)? I don't know a lot about track, but I wouldn't say NDSU track has the greatest facilities, but yet has probably been the most dominant program in the NCC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND92,96 Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 UND 92,96 How would you classify NDSU's track facilities (sans Schlanser Track)? I don't know a lot about track, but I wouldn't say NDSU track has the greatest facilities, but yet has probably been the most dominant program in the NCC. Although the BSA as a whole is not a very good facility, its track isn't bad. Compared to Hyslop's track, it's phenomenal. Since much of the track season occurs in the months of January, February and March, a decent indoor facility is an absolute must. NDSU has one, and UND does not. I believe that is the major difference between the two schools' track programs. Somewhat surprisingly, ND, SD and Minnesota actually produce quite a few very good track athletes, and NDSU has been able to get many of them due in no small part to its facility being far better than UND's. It's also possible that NDSU devotes more scholarship money to its track programs, but I don't know whether that's the case or not. It's actually kind of amazing that UND has had as many good individual track athletes as it has over the years, particularly on the womens side, considering the poor indoor facility. Not coincidentally, most have been middle and long distance runners, and field event competitors. The distance runners, I believe, do a lot of outdoor road work even in the winter, and the throwers and high jumpers don't rely on the actual track very much. Memorial is okay as an outdoor track, although I haven't run there since the late 80's so I don't know how well the track has aged, or whether it has been re-surfaced. Since it's still good enough to host the state high school track meets every other year, it must still be okay. NDSU's outdoor track was built long after my competitive days, but I assume it's good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 well said UND 92,96 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 1, 2004 Share Posted January 1, 2004 How big would a building have to be to hold a regulation sized soccer field? Bring in Soccer and then you can also bring in lacross and rugby club teams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bisonguy Posted January 1, 2004 Share Posted January 1, 2004 The minimum NCAA regulation size soccer field is 110 by 60 yards. Lacrosse is approximately the same (I found come conflicting dimensions). With soccer, you would also need approx. another ten years for the goals. A football field, by comparison, is 120 yards by 53.3 yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted January 1, 2004 Share Posted January 1, 2004 How big would a building have to be to hold a regulation sized soccer field? Bring in Soccer and then you can also bring in lacross and rugby club teams I hope that is a joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted January 1, 2004 Share Posted January 1, 2004 Whatever happened to putting a indoor bubble deally over the playing surface memorial? I realize it's probably expensive and maybe there just isn't a good way to do this. I believe the track is fairly new and with the eastern stands gone, you could put some nonrunning events inside as well. Plus soccer has practiced on the field before, even though it isn't grass. I agree, that practice facilities are poor, but remodeling the Hyslop is not the answer. That place is such a maze and there isn't even a good way to get from one end to the other. If you've ever had class in there you know that some rooms have too much heat and others have none at all. The place is so bad that the whole wellness center (worst planned idea ever) bullcrap had to be moved out of there, because it was too expensive for the students to pay for remodeling (among other reasons). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 2, 2004 Share Posted January 2, 2004 I hope that is a joke. The question was not a joke, I was honestly curious about how big would a building need to be to house a soccer field. As for actually having the sports as a serious venture, yes, that was a joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted January 2, 2004 Share Posted January 2, 2004 sorry I knew your question was legit, but the rugby and lacrosse thing made me laugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 2, 2004 Share Posted January 2, 2004 No problem. Making people laugh (and pissing people off) is seemingly what I'm good at around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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