Let's Play Ball! Managing Sport Facilities
Facility requirements for athletic programs in schools present challenges that coaches, students and parents may not be fully aware of.
Several years ago the irrigation system went off during
the first inning of a major league baseball game in Shea
Stadium, prompting the commentators to question whether
or not they had ever seen anything like that happen before. It was a
reminder that behind all of the practice and competition of athletic
events, there is a complex facilities infrastructure requiring
significant planning, design, operations and maintenance.
For those in charge of providing and maintaining educational facilities in public education, this could
be considered an added responsibility.
School facilities administrators are skilled
in many areas, including health and
safety issues for students, planning and
scheduling capital improvements, energy
conservation and dealing with compliance
for school buildings. The management of
sport facilities in public schools involves all
of these concerns along with many others.
PHOTO © PIUS LEE
Each year, facility administrators
develop a capital outlay budget to prioritize
a never-ending list of facility needs across
the district. Athletic facilities, particularly
those in high schools, can heavily impact
this process. The spirit of competition can
drive a diverse group of participants to
demand improvements in gymnasiums,
locker rooms, training facilities, tracks and
assorted playing fields. This is particularly
true when there is a perceived inequity
between schools. Parents and community
members speak at school board meetings
making comparisons and requesting new
facilities or upgrades. The addition of
lighting, artificial turf or synthetic track
surfaces at one school will invariably create
a similar need in others. District officials
faced with budget cuts and other critical
needs for the educational environment are
forced to delay athletic facility improvements
creating even more discontent.
This experience has led to increased
involvement from booster clubs, parent
teacher associations and community
organizations to raise funds for specific
athletic facility improvements. In recent
years, school boards have wrestled with
new policy issues regarding procedures
for the approval of these projects. Ignoring
these activities may result in serious
problems for the school system. Design
and construction must be consistent with
district standards related to expected
life cycle, safety and aesthetics. The
organization must be able to pay for the
completed project without the district
incurring responsibility, unless funding
participation by the board has been agreed
to beforehand.
Over time, the size, type and quality of
athletic facilities may inadvertently reflect
certain biases held within the community.
This often results in one segment of the
student population being favored over
another, particularly between male and female
sports programs in schools. In many
cases athletic facilities such as gymnasiums,
training areas and practice fields are
shared between groups with the exception
of softball and baseball fields which are
predominately divided by girls and boys.
Everything including covered dugouts,
fencing, lighting, spectator accommodations
and the overall condition of the field
is subject to comparison. Discrepancies
most often found are male teams having
better facilities. In 1972 congress passed
Title IX – Public Law 92-318 which states,
“No person in the United States shall, on
the basis of sex, be excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be
subjected to discrimination under any
education program or activity receiving
Federal financial assistance.”
In a 1977 case, Daniels v. School Board
of Brevard County, a complaint was filed by
a parent alleging the school system was in
violation of Title IX due to improvements
made to the baseball field at Merritt
Island High School in Florida. The booster
club added an announcer’s booth, new
bleachers, restrooms and lighting for night
games to the baseball field, however similar
upgrades were nonexistent for the softball
field. When faced with a lawsuit, the
district began dismantling improvements
to the baseball field due to an inability
to fund improvements for the softball
facility. Nevertheless, the U.S. District
Court required equivalent upgrades for the
girls’ facilities. It has become increasingly
common across the country for public
school systems to deal with this issue. Title
IX compliance is not the responsibility
of outside organizations, it rests solely
with the board of education. Facilities
administrators should routinely conduct
audits throughout the district with a focus sports facilities.
From an operations perspective, the management of athletic facilities
is a key consideration in the district’s energy management
program. Typical water and sewer usage for a high school depending
on size of the facility may average hundreds of gallons a year
costing between $20,000 and $30,000. An aggressive irrigation
program for ballfields may use more than half as much water necessary
for normal operations in the school building costing over
$10,000 a year. It is understandable that maintaining competitive
playing fields requires irrigation, however; care must be taken that
automatic controls are carefully managed to eliminate wasteful
spending. It is unlikely that athletic directors and coaches concerned
with the condition of the fields receive information related
to cost. Additionally, irrigation lines are often added to existing
utility systems without sub-metering allowing utility providers to
include sewer charges for water. Stadium lighting also represents
an opportunity for energy savings. Annual costs for lighting
football fields vary based on use and utility rates. Davidson County
schools in North Carolina has eight schools with stadium lighting
averaging a little less than $7,000 a year.
An additional concern for facilities managers in public education arose in 2003 when the death of football player Ricky
Lannetti at Lycoming College increased awareness on MRSA
infections in schools. MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus
aureus) spreads easily in athletic facilities, locker rooms and gyms
because of shared equipment and skin-to-skin contact. Surfaces
in these areas including weight training and wrestling areas must
be designed for routine cleaning by the users as well as custodial
staff. Special consideration of cleaning materials and techniques
should be reviewed periodically to prevent the spread of infection
in areas where skin contact is made.
Easy access to athletic facilities by emergency medical
personnel is another consideration for the design and operation of
outdoor and indoor athletic facilities. This is particularly complex
during sporting events attended by the public.
The new state of the art football stadium in Katy, Texas is
currently the most expensive high school football stadium in the
nation with a price tag of $70.3 million. Even though most school
districts will never come close to constructing athletic facilities
to this level, these “football palaces” (as they have been labeled
by the media), serve as an example of just how far the hunger for
competitive sports in public education can be taken. It creates
an enormous weight on the shoulders of facilities administrators
whose primary concern is providing and maintaining instructional
space. There are some who believe sports programs divert
limited funding critical to the academic program. Others point
out the benefit of fitness, teambuilding and character development
provided by sports training. From the perspective of facilities
management, it can be a win-win as long as the community is
willing to provide sufficient funding and resources. What is in the
best interest for student athletes? Clearly, it is facilities that are
safe, energy efficient and equally available to everyone.
This article originally appeared in the School Planning & Management October 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.