Tailgating leaves field dirty and hazardous

By: Ryan Buchan

Posted: 10/23/08

Broken glass, bottle caps, ashes, charcoal and cigarette butts litter a field east of Spartan Stadium.

On this field, club, intramural and physical education athletes run, dive, slide and tackle each other.

The field is in this condition partly because it is home to tailgate parties for SJSU football games.

"It creates a hazard for my players and the opposing team we play," said Matt Caffiero, president of the SJSU men's rugby club and a junior justice studies major.

Rob Patchett, assistant director of Associated Student Campus Recreation, said he instructs the referees of intramural games to scan the field for dangerous materials before contests to reduce potential injuries.

He said he thinks his staff does a good job because many of them play intramural sports as well and are familiar with the playing conditions and that he feels he is doing the best he can do under the circumstances.

"There is no giant broken glass and charcoal vacuum, unfortunately, that exists," Patchett said.

Both Patchett and Caffiero said they have never seen a major injury due to the field conditions.

"Even if it hasn't become a huge problem yet, it is very likely it will be," said Hideki Maniwa, a senior economics major and rugby player.

Despite their knowledge of the hazards, students still participate in sports on that field.

"If I were worried, I would not be playing rugby," said Peter Brookfield, an undeclared freshman and rugby player.

Garvey Shupe, a senior occupational therapy major and also a rugby player, said he prefers the field as a tailgating site and would rather put up with poor field conditions than lose it.

"I rather risk it because I like this tailgating spot," Shupe said. "If you move this tailgating spot somewhere else, that would be lame."

Maniwa said the fields he played youth club soccer on in the East Bay were worse because of needles and other hazards that are similar to those on the SJSU intramural field.

The field was in even worse condition at the SJSU-Hawaii football game in October of last year because of the combination of rain and tailgaters parked on the field, Patchett said.

"That was a disaster," he said. "It just turned into a big mud pit; there was no grass left. Not only were there no lines left for flag football, there was no grass."

He also said he thinks the field would have been in better condition after that game if there were no tailgaters.

Patchett said it was tough to get the field ready for the next flag football game six days later, and the game was played on different area of the field.

He said there have been talks about improving the area with the South Campus Master Plan, which would provide new artificial turf fields. Installing lights so intramural sports could be played at night has also been discussed, which would allow many students to participate who can't now because of conflicts due to classes, Patchett said.

He also said turf fields would be beneficial because the university would not have to repaint lines and turf wouldn't deteriorate as quickly as grass.

Rugby players said they would like it if the new fields could include goal posts that the current field is lacking.

Patchett said the new fields would not replace the current fields and could be located next to the football teams' practice fields, where the old Spartan Village stands. The Spartan Village is an abandoned housing complex located on South Campus.