While the Jack Rose Track keeps Cal State Long Beach students fit and healthy, the track itself has been in poor shape for a while.
Associated Students Inc. Senator-at-Large Manuel Nieto, who focuses on athletics, said that a renovation is five years overdue.
“It has cracks with grass growing through, surfaces that cause puddles when wet, spots where the turf is worn down to the base material that can stick to our spikes … faded lines and marks,” Bryce Van Boxtel, senior in business management and mid-distance runner on the Long Beach State men’s track and field team, said.
But according to Andy Sythe, head coach for track and field, the problem is bigger than that.
“What Bryce describes is only touching on the aesthetic part of our problem,” Sythe said. “It’s much more than that.”
He said the effects of a track in poor condition can be seen in the way that CSULB recruits prospective athletes.
In the past the facility has been a deciding factor for athletes and parents, Sythe said. He also said he thinks that prospective student athletes and their parents will question a program’s commitment to a sport when they see the condition of the university’s sports facilities.
“Recruiters out there are using this against us every day,” Sythe said.
Sythe said the condition of the track makes things more difficult for the team to keep the athletes they recruit. Instead of recruiting a few athletes to find a quality player, the CSULB track and field team has to recruit twice as many students to compensate for the half of those prospective athletes who may not stay with the team.
Nieto said that he spoke to the Director of Athletics Vic Cegles, who said that there is not enough funding to renovate the track. The cost for renovating the track would add up to $1.5 to $2 million.
“As of right now … there’s just not a big enough push,” Nieto said. “There’s just not enough money for it.”
Nieto said that he is drafting a resolution to present to CSULB President F. King Alexander and the Athletics Department, proposing an acquisition of funds through donations as well as from the university. He said he hopes to bring it to the ASI Senate in the upcoming weeks.
It has been five years since the track and field team has been able to host its own meets, Sythe said. Instead, the track and field administration must rent facilities at Los Cerritos College to have their meets.
Although Sythe said he is thankful to have a steady location for his team’s meets, a designated facility isn’t helping shake off fiscal worries. The cost of moving equipment back and forth between CSULB and Cerritos College adds an extra drain to the department’s already constrained budget.
“We literally rent a U-Haul truck, pick up everything from here and take it to Cerritos,” Sythe said. “It adds a lot of time to our day, the cleanup; it’s just a whole process. And plus, we’re at the mercy of another institution to provide us with things that we need.”
The conditions of the track, however, are not a reflection of the commitment of the LBSU Athletics Department, Sythe said. He said he sees this facility as a part of something bigger than just track meets and athletes.
“The community uses it,” he said. “There are a lot of people that utilize this facility for their own purposes, but they rely on this campus to continue to provide them with this opportunity, and right now, it affects them too.”
Sythe said that he and the track and field team hope something can be done to improve the field for the school, the students and the community.
Courtney Tompkins contributed to this report.