Over 500 of Amherst's approximate 1,600 students compete on varsity teams. About 80 percent of the student body participates in club or intramural sports. Additionally, Amherst's students, faculty and staff use the indoor facilities for informal athletic events. The heightened gym attendance during the winter months creates scheduling problems that often leave non-varsity athletes out in the cold.
Amherst boasts the nation's oldest athletics program, but that should not prevent the College from providing a state-of-the-art fitness environment for its athletes and non-athletes alike. Better facilities would be safer for Amherst athletes and give them a competitive edge. More extensive facilities would provide all members of the Amherst community the space they desire, especially when the option of exercising outdoors becomes untenable.
Currently, Amherst lags behind its peers in terms of top-notch amenities, and the College is making an effort to remedy this situation. Amherst is the only school in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) without an artificial turf field, and plans to install one by the next school year. However, this will not reduce the winter demand for indoor facilities, and much more can be done to improve the College's facilities.
One solution could be to build a field house. Right now, facilities such as Coolidge Cage and Alumni Gymnasium are inadequate for the Amherst community's needs. For example, the "indoor track" that rings the Cage has been the source of many injuries to members of the track and field team, and its irregular shape and distance does not allow the athletes to practice on the same type of surface that they use in competition. More people also try to use Alumni Gym and the Cage than these multi-purpose venues have space for. A field house would provide more space for both varsity and casual athletes, and at the same time provide a high-quality place to train and even host competitions.
While building new facilities is the ideal solution-a solution that should be pursued-a project of this magnitude naturally takes time and money. And with the winter season beginning today, a more immediate response is required. The athletics department should be proactive in allocating the use of the College's precious space for both varsity athletes and community members at large. A simple way to regulate the use of facilities would be to implement a reservation system. Athletics participants would then be more aware of facility availability and plan accordingly. Under the athletics department's leadership and with the cooperation of all parties involved, the scheduling conflicts that have become characteristic of the winter season can be eliminated as the College works toward a more permanent solution.