The intramural field is a well-beloved aspect of ACU’s campus and has played a big part in club sports throughout the years. With recent plans to move the field’s location, the question remains: Where will intramural sports be played now?
In Oct. of 2019, ACU purchased the Taylor Elementary School property, and June of 2020, the grant for the NEXT Lab was approved allowing the new lab to be built directly on the property of where the field and Taylor Elementary are.
Plans to move the current ‘Larry “Satch” Sanders’ field for intramural sports are up in the air and dependent upon the building schedule for the NEXT Lab.
“The field will remain in its place this fall and potentially spring of 2022 as well,” Todd Rogers, director of intramural and club sports, said.
As for the placement of the field in the near future, there’s no permanent location selected.
“We have had some discussion about where things could end up,” Rogers said. “At this point, we don’t really have any firm location of where the intramural field will move to next.”
A few options in discussion are to relocate to the Sherrod disc golf course by Smith-Adams residence hall or to move to the Teague stadium area. Neither of these options offer much space or are within a captivating proximity to ACU’s main campus.
To some, the intramural field may seem like a wasted or useless space. However, to the men and alumni of Frater Sodalis, the field is something to be proud of and deserves respect. Tim Yandell, ACU and Frater Sodalis alum, is a big reason the intramural fields are around today.
Tim graduated from ACU in 1985 but his presence on campus and among the Frats brotherhood has lasted much longer. He was a sponsor for Frats for 26 years and is now the president for Belt Buckle Distillery.
Yandell, alongside Larry Sanders, initiated the funding for the new field for the 60-year celebration of Frats. Sanders played 43 seasons of intramural football and was a sponsor for 30 years.
“I had to go through an approval process with the ACU president to present my plan for the new field,” Yandell said. “I was placed in charge of all the funding and got approval to name the new field after Larry Sanders.”
The initial goal was to raise $75,000, and the project quickly gained an extraordinary amount of support from alumni. They ended up raising well over $150,000. About six years after, Yandell came back and raised another $50,000 from Frats alumni to have new sod planted on the field.
“Not I, nor any other Frat alumni, have been made aware by any faculty on the plans to move the intramural field,” said Yandell. “I brought it up on my own account and was assured that wherever the field ends up, it will continue to be the Larry ‘Satch’ Sanders field.”
The brotherhood of Frater Sodalis is coming up on their 80-year celebration and many hope the field will remain in recognition of their club and their efforts.
“I understand that progress is progress for the university,” Yandell said. “But I am saddened that all of this must be redone and moved.”
