Sus Enos said she hated when a rival team came to the university for a club soccer match, and players asked to use the restroom.
“When we’re playing a team and they ask where they should go to use the restroom, it’s awkward telling them the closest restroom is McDonald’s,” Enos said.
The Student Government Association’s Campus Advancement Committee passed a resolution to encourage building restroom facilities at the intramural fields this fall. SGA’s committee explained that the facilities had been considered as part of the Worth Hills construction project but will take years to complete.
Vice President of SGA Brett Anderson said SGA approved the resolution out of concern for the student body and acknowledged that something should be done about it now.
“Ideally, physical structures need to be built on the intramural fields because it’s a place that will be utilized by students for years and years,” Anderson said.
SGA suggested the addition of the facilities would enhance the safety of the student body, promote healthy physical activity and overall improve student life.
“I think there are temporary solutions that would be great if implemented, but ultimately it’s going to require an actual physical structure,” he said.
SGA wanted to provide a temporary solution of portable toilets, but that would not provide a simple, easy solution. Not providing these facilities concerned Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Kathy Cavins-Tull. She said safety was important at all levels, and students should be provided with the facilities they need.
“I hear equally on the other side that people are concerned about having facilities out where there is not much supervision,” she said.
Cavins-Tull’s intercom team, which is a group of student leaders, was working with SGA to provide an equally balanced solution.
The quality of intramural sport fields is an issue because it receives a lot of attention, Cristie Carpenter, the associate director for programs, said. Nine sport clubs practice on the fields that cover only four acres.
“We had 107 flag football teams alone this year. The field space is not nearly enough when trying to schedule five games for all of those teams plus playoffs,” Carpenter said.
Overall student participation in intramural and club sports has increased. As of right now, no additional outside clubs would be approved unless they have an outside space to play, she said. The biggest issue for the intramural fields is not having enough space.
“We have no running water and no restrooms,” Carpenter said.
In order to participate, all clubs and intramurals are required to provide water on the field for themselves and their competitors. Enos said her team did not have water this past week, and one of her teammates had to leave the game to go purchase water for both teams. Not having running water on the intramural fields in these situations is an inconvenience and annoying, she said.
Not having the facilities needed can be an issue for female students who work on intramural sports, Carpenter said. Females working out on the fields have to be given the game off because any place to go to the restroom takes so long to get to.
“Nine years ago when I was playing intramurals, we used to go down to Pawn Street, but still it would take 20 minutes,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter suggested looking at the quality of the field complex and the improvements made at Texas A&M University and applying a downsized version of this to the university.
“They need to look at the quality of the field and see that we need more space,” she said. “We need restrooms, and we need running water.”
Senior economics major Taylor Pace has participated in multiple intramural sports and said the lack of facilities is inconvenient. He said when people have to use the restroom, they have to go behind the shed where the equipment is stored.
“I have always said if I ever were to donate money to TCU, it would be to put a water fountain and portapotty on the TCU intramural field,” Pace said.
Anderson said that SGA would continue to express to the administration that this was a relevant student concern because portable toilets on the intramural fields was not a permanent solution for students’ needs.
Cavins-Tull said the project was in its early stages and believed the facilities would eventually be built as part of the ultimate plan for the university.
