Dedicating Prentiss

On Saturday morning Vassar held a dedication for our new Prentiss Field Complex, which was completed last spring. I remember my first two years here, where we played on a mediocre game field surrounded by an inexact concrete oval that served as our track. We also had a practice field that became hard as cement later in the season (not great for goalkeeper drills), and our baseball team had a field that consisted of nothing more than a backstop and an infield. Our track team even had to go off campus for workouts. In the spring of my sophomore year they moved the soccer teams over to the field hockey/lacrosse fields on the other side of the road- these are actually in pretty good shape, but they couldn’t compete with some of the institutions we play against.

Fast forward two years and the difference is amazing. The new complex has a turf field with lights and a brand new soccer field, both of which have permanent bleachers and press boxes (something we didn’t have on our old fields). We also have a brand new 8-lane track and a new baseball field with fence and in-ground dugouts. The quality of grass on our game field is incredible, probably the best I’ve played on. There is also a second grass soccer field which is in great shape as well, and it gives our soccer teams five fields to choose from for training (we can go on the turf in bad weather or to prepare for a game on turf, and we can go on the old fields if we don’t want our practice to tear up the new fields too much). Another great feature is the box nets on our game field, similar to what you would see on television for a Premier League or Champions League game. I think any prospective student who plays up front should come here just for the chance to score goals in these nets.

For the dedication on Saturday, the teams got a catered breakfast before our games (field hockey and women’s soccer were at home and we went on the road to Drew). While we didn’t stay for the speeches because we had to get to our game, we did go out on the fields with some of the alumni who helped to finance the complex, including Jim Citrin ’81 after whom the new bleachers are named. They also christened the “Jennings Bench”, named after our long-time coach Andy Jennings. It may not line up completely straight with the field but he really seemed to like it. While I wish I could have had more than one season on these fields, they truly are amazing and should help our program immensely in the future, especially with recruiting.