Lackofhomesoftballfieldcouldhavebeenprevented

by Diane Grimaldi assistant photography editor

The construction of the Sports and Recreation Complex virtually guarantees that the needs of all indoor sports will be met for the next 30 years.

However, construction has forced at least one outdoor sport, the women's softball team, to adjust._due to a lack of facilities on campus. The college not only could have prevented the relocation, but by repositioning the building, could have provided enough space to build both a softball and a baseball field.

The women's softball team will start their season with no home field advantage because of a change in NCAA rules about field conditions.

The rule states that all softball fields must have an infield consisting entirely of dirt, which Cabrini does not have. The cur- rent field, which is located behind Grace Hall, has an allgrass infield due to the fact that it shares space with the lacrosse field. Since the field fails to meet the new standards, the softball team cannot play any of their games at home. The team will use the field at Valley Forge Christian College in Phoenixville, which is located about a half-hour away.

James Hedtke, former head coach, said that two years ago letters were directed to the college president regarding the condition of the softball field and the need for change.

In August of 1995, college President Dr. Antionette Iadarola hosted a student leadership picnic at her house. Hedtke was present at the picnic.

Hedtke said at the picnic he and Iadarola discussed the conditions of the field and the need for a new one. In fact, according to Hedtke, every time he was at any kind of meeting with Iadarola, he discussed the softball team.

Two weeks ago, four players on the softball team--seniors

Denise Canaris. Chris Lear and Erin O'Neill, along with sophomore Mary Lear, went to Iadarola to discuss the softball field. The four players said Iadarola told them she did not know anything about the field and that they would have to go through the proper channels, starting with Robert Bonfiglio, vice present for student development, to find out about the field.

Iadarola said in the meeting with the four softball players, she told them that because of the SPARC construction, she was looking for alternative sites on which to play, and to talk to Athletic Director John Dzik and Bonfiglio for more answers.

According to the women's softball coach, Rosanne Carfagno Corcoran, it would cost $3,000 to skin the infield of the college's current field and another $3,000 to re sod the field at the end of the season in order for the field hockey team to play there. Dzik said that solution was not practical.

When construction of the SPARC complex was started, the position of the building in regard to the softball field was taken into consideration. However, if the building had been moved back, there would have been room to make a softball field and a baseball field, according to Corcoran.

At a conference of the building and grounds committees of the board of trustees, discussions about the SPARC construction and the position of the building to provide additional field space for a baseball and softball field took place. Bonfiglio said, "To move the building now would not be plausible." An alternative plan proposed leaving the building in its present position but extending the field to add a softball diamond, but was not accepted because it would have eliminated parking spaces required by the township.

"The school needs to develop an institutional plan to provide a softball field on campus. If we are going to sponsor sports on this campus then we have to support the sports," Bonfiglio said.

Iadarola said she believes there will be room for a softball field after construction is complete.

Bonfiglio said the college is having an outside contractor come to campus to access the grounds. After the contractor comes, the administration will be better equipped to answer the questions of the softball team in respect to the softball field.