Kehoe Field, home to many of Georgetown’s recreational and intramural teams, is now closed, Dr. Todd Olson, Vice President for Student Affairs and Robin Morey, Vice President for Planning and Facilities Management announced on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
“As many of you know, we have worked for a number of years to address the drainage issues on Kehoe Field with short-term, but not long-term, success,” Olson and Morey wrote in an email to the student body. “We have come to the conclusion that the condition of the field is now such that we must close the field.”
Daniel Varghese
The university is “currently evaluating long-term options for the field,” but Morey and Olson reminded students that “Cooper Field will continue to be available for club and intramurals from 7 p.m. until midnight daily,” as well as at other times when varsity sports are not using the spaces. Georgetown has also requested permission from the city for club athletes to use the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington field, or Jelleff Field, on S Street NW.
Prior to its closure, club athletes had raised concerns about the safety of practicing on Kehoe Field.
“Kehoe Field is in dire need of renovation. The base of the field is concrete with numerous holes. There is a thin layer of some type of synthetic covering,” wrote Sandhya Mahadevan (SFS ‘17), president of the Women’s Rugby Football Club, in an email to the Voice. “Because the covering is so thin and because the base of the field is concrete, it is unsafe for the Women’s Rugby team to tackle on Kehoe,” she said.
President of Club Baseball Max Wheeler (COL ‘16) also said that Kehoe Field’s condition was “pretty brutal.” However, his team does not plan to use the space on S Street. “We are not planning on using Jelleff Field, because due to team size and the frequency of our practices, it’s not really feasible to use an off campus spot,” Wheeler wrote in an email to the Voice.
A Hoya Roundtable is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 7:00 p.m. to address issues relating to recreational athletics. According to an email from Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Christopher Augostini on Jan. 25, “student leaders and administrators will share brief updates on the role of recreational athletic facilities in master planning, followed by small group discussions on the future of recreational athletics at Georgetown.”
