Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
Stacey Sullivan
at
U. of Maine,
Orono
Sing the Maine Stein Song
Follow and Debate U. of
Maine Sports
U. Maine Sports:
Overview
Who is Stephen
King?
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
Stacey Sullivan
at
U. of Maine,
Orono
Sing the Maine Stein Song
Follow and Debate U. of
Maine Sports
U. Maine Sports:
Overview
Who is Stephen
King?
The long 27-year wait for a new field is finally over. There will be no more poor conditions for the UMaine Black Bear softball team to play on. In time the new field will attract more fans to the games but for now the Black Bears are just happy to have their new field. They have finally realized that good things come to those who wait.
On Saturday, April 15 Kessock Softball Field was played on for the first time after over five years of planning and fundraising. The Black Bears kicked off the opening celebration with a doubleheader against conference rival Boston University. However, there wasn't much to celebrate after the games were played as the Black Bears fell to the Terriers 4-1 and 7-1 respectively.
The new field will be a huge difference to what the Black Bears have been used to playing on. "The new field is state of the art in design," states head coach Deb Smith. "It is the nicest softball facility in the entire state of Maine. Hopefully more people will come out to see the games more often than they have in the past."
In 1973 the University of Maine established softball as a division one varsity sport. Since then all of the Black Bears home games have been played on Lengyl Field, which is located on the south side of campus, far away from all of the other sports facilities at UMaine.
"Lengyl Field has put a huge strain on our attendance," said Sara Jewett, senior catcher for the Black Bears. "A lot of students didn't even know we had a softball field or even a softball program for that matter!"
Kessock Field has been over five years in the making. However, it was not until this past September that the actual construction of the field began to take place. "The original plans for the field were estimated at one million dollars," recalls former Black Bear softball head coach Janet Anderson. "That was way out of our price range. We knew we had a desperate need for a new field, but we also knew that fundraising for such a large sum would not be easy. It took time for us to reevaluate the plans and finally we got the estimate down to a workable $600,000."
Finally, in May 1999, Michael Kessock, a longtime benefactor of the University of Maine and alumni, donated $300,000. Kessock had also donated money to the university in 1997 toward the new football and field hockey complex. "Michael Kessock has been extremely generous to the University of Maine and its sports teams. There is no way to explain how much he has done for the university, our athletic programs, and the state of Maine,"said Coach Smith.
In addition to Mr. Kessock's generous donations another longtime giver to the University of Maine, Stephen King, gave a generous $200,000 check toward the field. That was enough money to finally break ground and begin construction. The additional money for the field was raised through ticket sales and fundraising.
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Copyright ©2000 Stacey Sullivan
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