“Four acres for 300+ clubs,” “This sign is bigger than our field” and “Don’t fence us in” were a few of the signs at Wednesday’s rally against the lack of available field space on campus and the fee that Three Village Soccer Club, which rents the South Parking Lot field, charges club sport teams for games.
The protest was organized by Matt Graham, a senior rugby player and former Undergraduate Student Government president, who has also circulated a petition to increase field space for club sport teams.
Graham said the main goal was to gain a sufficient amount of space for all students. He said the university has been “sympathetic toward our needs. They understand the benefits of having field space for more students. It’s up to them to solve the problem.”
He has also received help from the Undergraduate Student Government, or USG, and the presidents of the individual sport clubs.
One of the most common complaints among protesters was the lack of space available for club teams. Nicole Himmelwright, vice president of the women’s soccer club, said games and practices are hard to schedule. Practices are limited to two nights a week for club sports, and clubs must give up their field space when intramural teams are practicing.
Sean Corley of the Stony Brook quidditch team said he wanted the team to not have to practice behind the physics building anymore, which is on a tilt and surrounded by concrete, making practice unsafe.
Alexander Michel of the rugby club said, “We just feel, as sports clubs, we are underappreciated and not noticed.”
The other issue was the fee charged by Three Village Soccer to use the South Parking Lot fields.
“Stony Brook is inadvertently charging us,” said senior Michel St. Clair.
The South Parking Lot Fields have 15 acres of land, leaving club teams with four on campus. David Hairston, manager of intramural and sport clubs at the university, said Three Village has owned the fields since he started working at Stony Brook in 2005 and that the money from renting the South Parking Lot fields has helped pay for the lights on the Campus Recreation field. He said most field requests are processed in less than 48 hours.
The women’s lacrosse club had a full field in the South Parking Lot fields, but it had been turned into a parking lot without the team’s knowledge. “We could not reserve field space,” said Andi Burrows. Now, the team practices in the corner of the softball field.
David Song, a junior in the soccer club, pointed out that in addition to paying the fee to use the South Parking Lot fields, club sports must also pay for other expenses such as referees and gas, which come out of the clubs’ budgets.
“They are building a hotel, right?” said Rachel Amoako, who signed the petition, “I think we should be able to divide the space evenly.”
Hairston wrote that “any field space that will help our student groups thrive and have the University more visible in a positive light, would benefit the SBU community as a whole. However I am not sure if charging the students is the best alternative because some of these organizations do not have the money in their budget to afford the fees being charged by Three Village, which then leads to less programming opportunities.”
Three Village Soccer’s President, Mitchell Pally, said that the fee is only $65 for university clubs instead of the normal $100 fee, and that it is only charged for games because a team that is not affiliated with SBU or Three Village is using the fields, but it is free for the teams to practice and play pick-up games. He also said that Three Village has rented the land from the school for around 20 years and pays a $75,000 fee. Three Village also developed the land from a garbage dump and is responsible for its maintenance, according to Pally.
The petition was signed by 2,600 people. A video has been put up on YouTube by Graham under the title “Stony Brook University Field Space Petition.”

“Four acres for 300+ clubs,” “This sign is bigger than our field” and “Don’t fence us in” were a few of the signs at Wednesday’s rally against the lack of available field space on campus and the fee that Three Village Soccer Club, which rents the South Parking Lot field, charges club sport teams for games.
The protest was organized by Matt Graham, a senior rugby player and former Undergraduate Student Government president, who has also circulated a petition to increase field space for club sport teams.
Graham said the main goal was to gain a sufficient amount of space for all students. He said the university has been “sympathetic toward our needs. They understand the benefits of having field space for more students. It’s up to them to solve the problem.”
He has also received help from the Undergraduate Student Government, or USG, and the presidents of the individual sport clubs.
One of the most common complaints among protesters was the lack of space available for club teams. Nicole Himmelwright, vice president of the women’s soccer club, said games and practices are hard to schedule. Practices are limited to two nights a week for club sports, and clubs must give up their field space when intramural teams are practicing.
Sean Corley of the Stony Brook quidditch team said he wanted the team to not have to practice behind the physics building anymore, which is on a tilt and surrounded by concrete, making practice unsafe.
Alexander Michel of the rugby club said, “We just feel, as sports clubs, we are underappreciated and not noticed.”
The other issue was the fee charged by Three Village Soccer to use the South Parking Lot fields.
“Stony Brook is inadvertently charging us,” said senior Michel St. Clair.
The South Parking Lot Fields have 15 acres of land, leaving club teams with four on campus. David Hairston, manager of intramural and sport clubs at the university, said Three Village has owned the fields since he started working at Stony Brook in 2005 and that the money from renting the South Parking Lot fields has helped pay for the lights on the Campus Recreation field. He said most field requests are processed in less than 48 hours.
The women’s lacrosse club had a full field in the South Parking Lot fields, but it had been turned into a parking lot without the team’s knowledge. “We could not reserve field space,” said Andi Burrows. Now, the team practices in the corner of the softball field.
David Song, a junior in the soccer club, pointed out that in addition to paying the fee to use the South Parking Lot fields, club sports must also pay for other expenses such as referees and gas, which come out of the clubs’ budgets.
“They are building a hotel, right?” said Rachel Amoako, who signed the petition, “I think we should be able to divide the space evenly.”
Hairston wrote that “any field space that will help our student groups thrive and have the University more visible in a positive light, would benefit the SBU community as a whole. However I am not sure if charging the students is the best alternative because some of these organizations do not have the money in their budget to afford the fees being charged by Three Village, which then leads to less programming opportunities.”
Three Village Soccer’s President, Mitchell Pally, said that the fee is only $65 for university clubs instead of the normal $100 fee, and that it is only charged for games because a team that is not affiliated with SBU or Three Village is using the fields, but it is free for the teams to practice and play pick-up games. He also said that Three Village has rented the land from the school for around 20 years and pays a $75,000 fee. Three Village also developed the land from a garbage dump and is responsible for its maintenance, according to Pally.
The petition was signed by 2,600 people. A video has been put up on YouTube by Graham under the title “Stony Brook University Field Space Petition.”