It’s only necessary to witness one fight between intramural flag football and club soccer teams to realize that field space at UNC is far too limited.
There are only five official fields available, and an obvious lack of any unofficial green space that could be utilized for any type of organized sporting activity.
Though UNC may provide ample space for indoor activities, such as coveted basketball courts, it falls far behind comparable schools in green space.
Fellow public Ivies University of Virginia and University of Michigan both offer nine fields suitable for football- and soccer-sized games, while neighboring N.C. State University has eight fields.
The lack of space presents problems to sports clubs and those just looking for a pickup game of soccer. Currently, sports clubs are forced to schedule practices that do not finish until 10 p.m., and everyone else has to fill in around and after them.
The rampant use of the fields also presents a problem as the rubber pellet infill is moved and subtracted, requiring maintenance to avoid uneven spots.
It’s hard to point to a place for the development of a field on UNC’s already filled campus.
But as the University begins to expand with the development of Carolina North, these needs should not be forgotten. The plans to its construction are still very abstract and adaptive, and as these become more concrete they should also add some turf.
