Despite the cold, frigid weather, the Idaho State Athletic Department partnered with the Idaho Central Credit Union and broke ground last Tuesday on the new practice field being built south of Holt Arena.
Holt Arena is a community center and with all the non-sports related activities that go on inside Holt Arena, it can make it difficult to schedule practice times for the Idaho State University teams.
“It’s something we’ve needed for a very long time,” said ISU soccer head coach Allison Gibson. “Right now we are practicing on a basketball court, so I think of how that surface opposed to something more natural to what we play on will be huge for us.”
Gibson said that facility would allow the soccer team to schedule spring games for the soccer team. “That will be huge for us,” said Gibson.
While the game moves a lot faster on the artificial turf than it does on the grass, Gibson actually views that as an advantage. It’s always better to practice on a faster surface so that when it comes time to play an actual game on grass the game is slower for the players.
The outdoor facility will solve a huge problem of scheduling multiple ISU sports teams that want to practice year round.
The field will be named the ICCU Practice Field at the Papenberg Sports Complex. A common misconception is that this field will be only available to be used by the football team. However, every ISU team will be able to enjoy the field. Not only will it be a field for ISU sports, but for community events such as youth football and soccer games.
Hellas Construction, the same company that installed the turf inside Holt Arena, will construct the field.
“This is huge for the University,” said Pocatello Mayor Blad. “Something like this is going to help to get people here.”
“This helps us a great deal and we are appreciative of Idaho Central Credit Union for their support of Idaho State Athletics,” Idaho State Director of Athletics Jeff Tingey said. “This is great for the athletic department because it gives our teams places to practice. From a university standpoint, this is good. It will be an ISU/community field. We’ll bring in little league football, little league soccer and various events. It introduces a lot of people to Idaho State University that might not come on the campus for anything else.”
The artificial turf surface will be 120 by 70 yards and will be lined for soccer and football, and will be fenced in. The expected completion date is June 27.
“Idaho Central is proud to work closely with ISU,” Idaho Central President and CEO Kent Oram said. “ICCU Field will be an excellent addition to ISU and Pocatello. This field will provide further opportunities for ISU and the community to come together on this great campus.”
“This is a monstrous advantage for us,” ISU head football coach Mike Kramer said. “Not only will this allow us to practice outside but it will allow us the ability to always practice on the surface we will play on.”
Currently ISU football is holding spring practices on the old artificial turf, which is a safety issue. The new artificial turf is built out of the same material that is used during the football season.
“It will enable us to play in inclement weather. Sometimes when you play inside all the time when you go outside you are shocked by the conditions. This facility will give us a place to prepare for anything; it will also be a big tool in recruiting,” said Kramer.
“We always told them [recruits] that we are going to have a practice field and they are excited that the things we were talking about are actually true,” Kramer added.
