T-Bird stadium gets makeover

After more false starts than a 100-metre sprint final, UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium is finally getting its oft-promised, much-needed artificial turf makeover.

When Ted Goveia was fired as head football coach this past fall he suggested the grid program on the Point Grey campus likely won’t be able to shake its losing ways until it took a long look at its facilities situation.

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At the time, Goveia emphasized he wasn’t ducking responsibility for the T-Birds’ four consecutive years out of the Canada West playoffs. He believed he was just stating the obvious.

“[Artificial turf] is long overdue,” agrees athletic director Bob Philip of the estimated $1.8-million project. “It’s going to help the football program, but also intra-murals and community use. It’s going to be good, too, for rugby because the type of field we’re putting in is approved for international matches.”

UBC has spent considerable money and effort during the past few years upgrading its athletic facilities, especially for track and field and baseball. Now it’s time for the football program to benefit.

Work is being done to replace the antiquated drainage system, which hasn’t been attended to since the stadium opened in the mid-1960s. Once the new drainage and field preparations are completed, installation of the new artificial turf should begin in late June.

The turf UBC has selected is called Polytan and its installation is being handled by Centaur Products -a Canadian company headquartered in Burnaby.

There are Polytan football fields at both the University of Toronto and the University of New Brunswick. Like FieldTurf, Polytan employs a rubber infill field system.

With the new turf the T-Birds will be able to hold their workouts in the stadium and avoid the bumpy grass practice field nearby. Two years ago, T-Bird receiver Braden Smith missed most of the season after contracting a bacterial infection from the goose droppings that frequently made practising on the grass field an adventure.

Incoming head football coach Shawn Olson sees two major benefits for his team.

“The previous practice field made it tough to work on skills,” said Olson, who quarterbacked the Thunderbirds to their last Vanier Cup Canadian title in 1997. “So there should be an immediate benefit to the on-field product. In addition, it signals that the school administration is solidly in support of the football program here.”

CAMPUS CORNER: The T-Birds’ training camp opens Aug. 20 with their first Canada West game scheduled for Sept. 4 at home vs. Alberta

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