Rick Devereux
Third in a series
David Bowie once sang that time was running wild.
It seems the Orange Coast College athletics department has used
the time since receiving more than $14 million from bond Measure C
money to run wild on improving its facilities.
With all of the ch-ch-changes going on for the Pirates -- LeBard
Stadium is being renovated, a new fieldhouse is being built, a new
dance floor has been installed, the softball and baseball fields will
get a new look -- the first sport to benefit from the construction
will be soccer.
"The soccer field was built in 1978 and nothing has been done to
that field since then," OCC men's coach Laird Hayes said. "It has a
huge crown on it. The ball never bounced on it any organized way. It
was anybody's guess which way it will go."
The field has been bug up and leveled off to correct the crown and
a new synthetic surface called FieldTurf has been installed instead
of natural grass. FieldTurf is the same surface used by more than
half of the teams in the English Premier League, including powerhouse
Manchester United.
Barbara Bond, who has been the only women's soccer coach in school
history, viewed the construction as long overdue.
"Even though we had two of the best soccer teams in the state, we
had the worst facilities bar none in our conference," Bond said.
"We've been talking about for several years redoing the field."
The field has been flattened and enlarged to 120 yards long and 80
yards wide, which will help the OCC players in various ways.
"That crown has been getting more and more pronounced," said Jim
Carnett, the college's community relations officer. "All of that has
been taken off. It wasn't very effective for soccer and running
downhill was kind of dangerous for the soccer players."
Hayes said, "Because of the crown, [the field] played more narrow
before. Now it's almost as flat as a pancake. And it going to 120-80.
Most premier leagues shoot for those dimensions. The new field will
give us a bit of a home-field advantage."
Hayes said he first rallied for FieldTurf after visiting the
facilities at Santa Barbara City College that have had the surface
for over two years. He also talked to players that have experienced
various types of fields for input.
"We played on it twice [at Santa Barbara] and our guys loved it.
They didn't have any complaints at all," Hayes said. "I've also
talked to professional soccer players, and they've all said good
things about it."
Another change to the soccer field will be a row of palm trees
lining the east sideline between the field and the baseball venue.
Eucalyptus trees have been removed for the palms.
The women's soccer team will open the new venue Aug 31 before
their season opener against Mt. San Antonio College. The dedication
ceremony will start at 2:30 p.m. and Brazilian national midfielder
Sissi, who was the leading scorer in the 1999 World Cup, will help
unveil the new field.
