Recent facility updates and relocations to outdoor sports in Smith Athletics have kept the newly renamed Smith Bears at the top of their game just in time for conference play. The installation of the new AstroTurf has been a huge contributing factor to field hockey’s early success this season. While soccer was displaced from their home field due to the Geothermal Project, they still hit the ground running at their temporary location on the infield of the outdoor track.
Smith’s field hockey team installed their first artificial turf field in 2010, aiming to replace the field once every ten years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put the project on the back burner for the last five years. This past summer, resurfacing the turf was a top priority before the fall. The staff decided to use AstroTurf, colloquially known as the golden seal of surfaces for competitive field hockey teams across the nation.
“The impact is just so incredible for the sport. It changes recruiting. It doesn’t necessarily change the tactics of the games, but the execution of them is quicker and more accurate,” said Head Coach Jaime Ginsberg. “The consistency and the kind of motor learning and movement that you get from playing on such a great surface only helps your technical ability.”
Current players echoed Ginsberg’s words on the new surface giving them a fresh advantage against their competitors.
“Our old turf, after being used for so long, got a little bumpy so it was harder for receptions,” player Sam Sparling ’28 said. “Our game has really, really been elevated this season because of how fast our passing can be.”
The Field Hockey team currently sits at 5-3 on the entire season, and starts 1-0 in conference as New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play continues.
Smith joins as the third school in the NEWMAC to have an AstroTurf field, following behind Mount Holyoke and Wellesley College. Ginsberg estimates that only about 25% of all teams compete with this particular surface.
“In that 25%, those are the [teams that] are the top Division III field hockey programs,” said Ginsberg. She nodded to the new turf as a key factor keeping Smith at the top of the list for potential recruits who wish to continue their athletic career in college.
Having lost recruits to other schools with AstroTurf in years past, Ginsberg looks forward to strengthening her team and climbing the ranks both within the conference and nationally.
“When you’re looking at a profile for a person who’s academically as strong as they need to be to become a Smith student, and athletically as strong as we want them to be […] we’re not looking at that many people that hit that profile,” said Ginsburg. “And when you look at the number of schools that hit that profile, you’re spreading it thin. So to be in that fight for those players, that’s the biggest difference and I think you can see that in the first-year class I have now, and in hopefully future classes.”
As for soccer, the athletic administration spent over a year deliberating where the soccer team would practice and compete this coming season.
“We started working to make sure that it was a big enough space because for soccer there’s a range of sizes a field needs to be. Once we sorted out that we could meet the size parameters that the NCAA guidelines insist upon and still keep the field safe, not too close to the track and not too close to drainage, then it was game on,” said Head Coach Kathy Brawn. “Our grounds people are just phenomenal, they’ve done work to the field with getting it to be in the best shape it can be in.”
Brawn and her players ranked Smith’s prior field as one of the best grass fields they have ever played on. The hill sloping down to the field was optimal for fans to come watch games and the hold of the grass was well-suited for playing in inclement weather conditions.
“When we were told that we were going to be on the old rugby field, I think a lot of us felt disappointment because our field was known as being the best grass field in the NEWMAC, but when we came out for pre-season, I think we were all pleasantly surprised by how good the field turned out to be,” soccer captain Una Keller ’27 said.
Administration looked to the soccer coaches to decide what the team needed most, allowing the team to continue their practices and game day rituals as though they were on the same field.
“There was so much work done to make sure that the filming of the new field was set up. The Hudl cameras are set up, there’s a press box, there’s a sound system. When you walk out to that field, it feels like a soccer field. It doesn’t feel like someone threw two goals down and some lines and a couple of benches, and just said, go ahead,” said Brawn. “In a situation where you could feel like an afterthought, I don’t feel that way. We’ve got a place to be, so that’s important.”
While this field is suitable for the time being, it is not meant to be a permanent placement post-Geothermal.
“It’s a good place to be temporarily. We’re looking forward to getting back to what we had before, because that’s sort of home for us. That soccer field is Smith Soccer for sure” said Brawn. “But this field, as a backup for a year, has been a good place to be.”
