The new ACU Intramural fields will be moved to the empty grass lot south of Wildcat Stadium, north of stevens park and off the Wildcat way trail leading to the football stadium, finally being confirmed after no plan was in a place as the time of their demolition.
In the fall of 2021, the University put forth plans to replace the Larry “Satch” Sanders Intramural fields with the new NEXT lab. The problem this presented was the lack of a planned location for intramurals to occur in the fall of 2023.
After this announcement, intramurals continued its regular football season until, in late February, what was supposed to be a regular intramural soccer season was cut down to a weekend tournament in preparation for the field’s demolition. The fields underwent construction on March 7.
Students were left in the dark with no set plans for the field until recent developments when ACU Director of Intramural and Club Sports Matthew Ferreira said the intramural fields new location would be south of Wildcat Stadium.
“It’s pretty locked in that we are going to be in the fields out by Teague,” said Ferreira. “Within the next couple of weeks, we will be starting construction and making those our intramural fields.”
The location was most recently used for fall football tailgating in the fall of 2021. The location can also be seen as a tent location for collegiate track teams during meets at Elmer Gray Stadium.
The new fields will be two active fields with lights and bleachers. Ferreira said that the new fields will be 20 yards shorter, which shouldn’t be an issue long term.
Despite the relative proximity of students to the new location, ACU Senior Vice President for Operations Kevin Campbell says it may not be a suitable location for ACU intramurals long-term plans.
“We love the location of the space we are going to be at for the next couple of years,” Campbell said. “But, longer-term, we would like to add some additional sports to the mix and therefore think that’s not going to be the long-term home.”
Despite this, ACU intramurals have a new home that students will be able to use for the foreseeable future. With the looming fall football season, Ferreira says that everything should be ready for those students.
“We have a 100% chance of them being ready by then,” said Ferreira. “Unless something catastrophic happens, which I can’t imagine happening.”
