Henry Abbott

With the Pickard Field renovations having been completed for almost two months, club teams have had differing reactions to the new field spaces. Club soccer and men’s rugby have mostly enjoyed the latest amenities, while ultimate frisbee has had to adapt to difficult playing conditions.

Men’s and women’s club soccer and men’s rugby primarily utilize the new multipurpose turf field for their practices and games, with varsity teams only occasionally using the field when their grass fields are unable to accommodate them, usually due to rain that causes flooding on the edges of the complex.

Owen Chambers ’25, captain of the men’s club rugby team, expressed gratitude for the location of the multipurpose field his team primarily uses.

“There’s definitely been impacts from the flooding obviously, but the turf doesn’t really get that. We are lucky enough to the point where our field is in the middle of everything, and it seems that the draining issues that are present are on the sides of the entire complex … [where] right after it rains, there’s a good eight inches of water,” Chambers said.

Since the multipurpose field stays relatively dry, varsity teams can take over practice time from club teams. Ryan Delaney ’25, captain of the women’s club soccer team, explained that scheduling can become a bit chaotic.

“I know it’s really hard for them to predict when the grass field won’t be so great for varsity, but there have been some days where you show up and we didn’t know that varsity was practicing right when we’re supposed to start.… We [the women’s club soccer captains] think it would be super helpful to have some form of calendar shared with all the other teams and [Bowdoin] Athletics that shows when we’re using the fields, so you can know if something changes,” Delaney said.

Despite the scheduling challenges, many teams feel that Bowdoin Athletics has been responsive in helping teams navigate this process.

“Kevin Loney, the director of facilities, is actually super responsive to club sports,” Charlie Bonney ’25, captain of men’s club soccer, said. “If there’s a new time that opens up or if a varsity practice has to be rescheduled, and we have to move our practice, they’ll always let us know.”

Furthermore, the teams recognize that as club sports, varsity team schedules take priority.

“I also think there’s merit in the fact that these are varsity teams, and to an extent, they should get priority over us. But I’ve never felt like they have it out for us,” Chambers said.

Regardless of scheduling issues, both soccer club teams and men’s rugby feel the fields offer a significant upgrade to their programs.

“I think having access to such a well-made, brand-new, nice field has brought a lot of good energy to our team and made us feel maybe a little bit more official,” Delaney said.

Over at the grass fields, the ultimate frisbee teams have struggled with the quality of the fields in general. Cole Fairfield ’25, captain of men’s ultimate frisbee, described being initially excited by the amount of grass space the new renovations provided, as well as lighting for night practices.

“I could see the potential for that field being really nice. We have a ton of space,” Fairfield said.

However, the current fields are often muddy, uneven and covered in rocks, presenting challenges for both ultimate teams.

“I’d say you’re hitting a rock or you’re standing in a mud pile, basically,” Chelsea Moody ’25, a captain of women’s ultimate frisbee, said.

Additionally, Moody expressed frustration that the team was initially told they would have a field by the start of last season. However, while Athletics claims that the renovations are fully complete, they still do not have the field they were promised.

“I would love to just see them finish the project,” Moody said. “Because in the plans we were supposed to have our own ultimate field, but that’s just not happening.”

Fairfield echoed this sentiment, noting the current situation is less than ideal for both programs.

“We don’t expect a fancy, multi-million dollar grass field,” he said. “We just want a nice grass field we can practice on, and they haven’t even been able to really deliver that for us in the past two years.”

Ashmead White Executive Director of Athletics Tim Ryan hopes to rectify drainage and field condition concerns shortly.

“We are excited about the new opportunities available for club and intramural sport activity on our new turf and grass fields, and while we’ve had some challenges with the quality of the grass fields reserved for club and intramural use as part of the Pickard renovation project this fall, repairs are underway, and we hope to be fully utilizing the grass fields this spring,” Ryan wrote in an email to the Orient.