A deal has been made in the ongoing fight to increase field space for students. The deal, which was reached on Thursday, will let student groups reserve the Three Village Soccer Club fields for free.
The fields, which once cost students $65 for each game and had to be reserved through Three Village Soccer Clubs, will now be reserved through the Department of Campus Recreation. In a letter, President Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., wrote that all students who recently have paid to use the South Parking Lot Fields will be reimbursed.
Recently, issues were raised over the charging of Stony Brook students by Three Village Soccer for use of the South P fields for games, which involve students from other colleges. Matt Graham, a senior chemical and molecular engineering major and rugby player, who organized a rally last month with the USG to increase recreational field space, said “it’s what should have been done.”
The original revocable lease from 1982 states “at all other times than those designated… University Center (SBU) may use the designated areas noted… for its own purposes.”
Graham and Derek Cope, a junior health sciences major and president of the Men’s Soccer Club, presented a resolution to increase field space before the University Senate on Monday, Nov. 7, where it was met with unanimous approval. University Senate President Fred Walter said Graham and Cope “Did a wonderful job. No one can be opposed to field space for the students.”
“I don’t remember anyone objecting,” said Graham on his presentation. “They overwhelmingly understood the benefits if having field space, which you might think some people don’t. They know the students need things to do, especially out-of-state students far away from home.”
In a campus lifetime meeting on Tuesday, meetings with Three Village Soccer Club were discussed, as well as adding field space to the campus as part of future renovations.
“Everything is a tradeoff,” said Barbara Chernow, vice president of facilities, at the meeting. “We need access to our own fields and we need to build new ones.”
According to Graham, soon students will be able to schedule use of the fields for the spring, when the weather gets nicer.
“We’re all really excited about this and have already started to try to schedule games with other teams for the spring semester and are discussing the possibility of hosting a tournament,” said Kathryn Michaud, the Women’s Soccer Club president. “This is great news for our team as well as the other sports club teams.”
The tense situation between Three Village Soccer Club and Stony Brook has led to “unprofessional” moments, according to students. Cope described a situation where a Three Village Soccer Club employee stepped onto the field during a game to tell the Men’s Soccer Club to leave. The game, according to Cope, was delayed because the referee showed up late.
Mitch Pally, president of Three Village Soccer Club, said the team was aware of the time constraints and that the delay with the soccer club delayed the game that was supposed to take place on the field next. Both sides accused the other of poor behavior.
“I understand that Three Village is a separate organization from the school and they need to cover their costs for mowing and lining the fields in addition to paying the lease, but it doesn’t cost them any money for us to play there since the fields are already mowed and lined for the community members that play there,” Michaud said. “They shouldn’t be using Stony Brook University’s club teams to pay off their lease to Stony Brook University.”
“We are all really appreciative of the university officials working so hard to fight for students about this issue,” Graham said. The petition that has been circulating to increase recreational field space has received 3,300 signatures.
Mitch Pally did not comment on the deal.
