By Colter Hettich, Features Editor
ACU women’s softball and soccer teams soon will have a place to call home. Construction on the new softball/soccer fieldhouse began in August 2008, and administrators expect teams to be able to move in mid-March.
Chantiel Wilson, head softball coach, said the new facility will make her and her players’ life much easier. Chantiel is in her sixth season as head coach and said she believes strongly in the benefits of training the mind as well as the body. The fieldhouse’s two team rooms will provide the perfect atmosphere for her team’s “mental training.”
“I think [the fieldhouse] will help step up our training and work on mental toughness,” Chantiel said. “Out on the field, we don’t have the resources to do what we would like to put into our training.”
The new fieldhouse has not received an official name yet but it may receive the praise and admiration of the women’s soccer team. Both the soccer and softball teams will have their own dressing room and team room for watching game film, strategizing and virtually anything else the teams need – all without having to reserve a room somewhere on campus.
Casey Wilson, Chantiel’s husband and ACU head soccer coach, said the fieldhouse’s training room will help many of his players, who need pre-practice medical attention, be on time to practice.
“Right now the girls have to go get treatment at Moody or Teague, and it makes them late to practice,” Casey said. “We’ll also have a laundry room, so the girls don’t have to drag their uniforms back and forth.”
The new facility will change one aspect of Casey’s personal life for the better; with no on-site storage, all the soccer equipment and uniforms have to be kept somewhere.
“We’ve been storing anything extra that we can’t fit in our office in our garage,” Casey said. “We stored the uniforms at our house for a long time.”
Jared Mosley, director of athletics, said the ever-changing weather has only slightly affected the construction progress, and project managers have been able to stay true to the original plans for the structure.
“Progress has actually been really good,” Mosley said. “[Extreme weather] will probably delay us a little bit, but for the most part, we’re still on track.”
Chantiel can hardly contain her excitement.
“I’m just so ecstatic,” Chantiel said. “It feels like Christmas every time I drive by it.”
