Inequalities in Chapman athletic facilities force some teams to practice, compete off-campus

Chapman’s baseball team, which meets at Hart Park, is one of many university sports teams that commute off-campus for practices and home games. MADDIE MANTOOTH, Staff Photographer

Chapman is home to a variety of state of the art facilities, with one of its more recent projects being the $130 million construction of the Keck Center for Science and Engineering.  A look out the window at the Holly & David Wilson field is sure to convince prospective student athletes that all Chapman sports teams are provided with similarly top notch amenities.

Senior strategic and corporate communication major Connor Gallegos, a long snapper on the football team, believes the team’s performance has been positively impacted with the quality and attention from the athletics department, and how their facilities allow them to have the support of viewers. 

“Our field is one of, if not the best stadium D3 football has to offer.  In addition to the field, our fans bring a ton of energy to every home game and we really feed off them,” Gallegos said, “it is definitely one of the toughest places to play for an opposing team.”

But upon further inspection of Wilson field, one may find that there is no eight lane track, sand pit for long jump or pole vaulting area for the track and field team. Instead, Chapman’s track and field athletes must seek accommodations up the street at Orange High School or Yorba Middle School to practice their skills before meets. 

Though Orange High School is relatively close to campus, having to share the high school’s space for half of the practices during the week is not ideal for junior communication studies major Ella Kodjababian — nor the rest of her team.  

“For me, I like being at Wilson field because I like seeing other students and teams practicing and feeling (like) a part of the student athlete community, ” Kodjababian said. “I just feel disconnected (off-campus), and I am not as excited to go to practice.”

Working around the high school gym classes can be difficult for Chapman track and field athletes, especially when it comes to splitting track lanes.

Discus thrower Promise Johnson, a senior broadcast journalism and documentary major, addressed the inequalities of facilities among all the events in the track and field program. 

“I know for (track and field) athletes, like pole vaulters, it is the worst because they don’t have a close, secure place to practice,” Johnson said. 

Pole vaulting coach Sonny Duong often utilizes the resources of other schools where he works part-time in order to provide his athletes with a space to practice before meets. And despite the recent success of Jesse McMillan, a sophomore business administration major who broke the school’s pole vaulting record, Duong recognizes that the team is being held back from reaching its full potential by the absence of dedicated facilities.

“I believe that if (Chapman)  truly gave us the support, (McMillan) would be easily on his way to jumping over 17 feet this season,” Duong said. “But unfortunately, these are the obstacles that the pole vaulters have to overcome this year in order to find success; it's always fighting with one hand tied behind your back.”

Even amid the uncertainty of where the track and field team will practice each day, Kodjababian believes that a well-organized training program makes up for the shortcomings of a lack of facilities. 

“What matters more is the training, and since we are following a good training program from our coach, we are still improving.” Kodjababian said.

In contrast, fellow campuses in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, like Occidental, have the means to host track and field meets. Chapman is unable to, and Kodjabadian feels that this is a barrier for fans who want to come out and support the athletes.

“The team always talks about how we want a full track in order to practice (on campus) everyday,” Kodjababian said. “Then, we would be able to host home meets too. Instead, we are always traveling, and our friends can never come to watch us at home.”

In addition to allowing for home meets and more efficient practices, Johnson believes having proper track and field facilities on campus would give the athletes a chance to consistently work at their crafts and accordingly prepare for competition.

“It's hard to get work in on our own, because when you are practicing off campus, you are subject to the changing (environments) of the place you are in,” Johnson said. “So when Orange High School was on break, we could not use their facilities.”

Even further away from campus, the softball and baseball teams travel to El Camino Real Park and Hart Park, respectively, in the city of Orange. 

Junior communication studies major Chris Bogan, who is an outfielder on the baseball team, transferred from a junior college during COVID-19 with unknown expectations of what Chapman’s baseball program would look like.

“One thing I can say is a bit disappointing is not having a field or stadium on campus,” Bogan said. “This would definitely increase the fan support at the game and morale and energy at the events.”

Softball pitcher Jessica Kim, a senior communication studies major, always dreamed of becoming a college softball player growing up. As a freshman, she was excited to reach this goal but was filled with uncertainty  when she found out that practices would occur a mile away from campus.

“Not having a car was pretty difficult, so I would ask a junior on the team if she could give me a ride,” Kim said. “We would all try to shove our equipment, bags and (the water coolers) from the athletics department when we carpooled to practice … it is a struggle.”

Though Kim told The Panther she is thankful for the friends she made through having to coordinate transportation to practice, she believes she would have saved a lot of time and experienced less stress balancing softball and academics if the team’s field was more accessible. . 

“My first year I definitely was very worried,” Kim said. “Not even just about my practice performance and improving myself; I was thinking, ‘I just need to get to practice.’”

Because the city is responsible for maintaining the fields, the softball team does not always have guaranteed access to practice and play at El Camino Real Park.  Additionally, since the park is public, softball team members have consistently voiced concerns in regard to their comfort and safety as young women, according to Kim.

“We have to call (the city) when the lights go out at 8 p.m., because that’s when our practice ends,” Kim said. “but then we have to clean up and walk to our cars in the dark, and El Camino Park is not the safest place.”

Bogan explained that, while teams like Chapman baseball and softball are grateful for any designated space to pursue their craft, the construction of more Chapman-specific athletic facilities would bolster these teams’ reputations in the eyes of their competition.

“This isn’t a crazy idea (to construct an on-campus baseball field),” Bogan said. “Every team in our conference besides us has (their own field), so that should be the first (thing that Chapman athletics should) make happen. But we’re still happy with what we have.”