On Sunday, Daryl Gross crossed off an item that had been on his agenda since his first day as athletic director at Syracuse University.

He created a new indoor practice facility without laying a brick.

AstroTurf was installed inside Manley Field House during the weekend, giving the 45-year-old basketball arena a new look and vastly expanding the winter practice capabilities for Syracuse’s outdoor sports.

‘The point is that we didn’t have any place to practice when it gets cold, and it’s been like that here for years,’ Gross said in a telephone interview. ‘So we had been looking for solutions to what we can do to accommodate our teams, and so this ended up being one of the things we could do.’

The new turf measures approximately 70 yards long, and currently fits inside of the oval on the infield of the track. At its widest point it is 40 yards, and is painted with football hash marks.

The turf can be rolled up to expose the basketball court or long jump pits in the infield. Gross said the final cost was ‘less than $500,000,’ and was funded entirely by one booster, Stuart Kroll.

The renovation is part of a two-phase plan for Manley and part of a larger overall shift in where teams practice, both during the season and in the offseason. The current turf is temporary until permanent turf, along with an elevated track, are added in 17 months.

By then, the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center, a new practice facility adjacent to Manley, will be opened, eliminating the need for a basketball court inside the fieldhouse. The women’s basketball team began phasing out Manley last season when it moved its home games to the Carrier Dome.

One of Gross’ goals was to be able to accommodate more teams in the current practice facility. With the removable turf, he said the count currently stands at 16.

One look inside Manley attests to his plan. Wednesday, in the middle of the afternoon, Manley was mostly occupied with runners utilizing the track. But having turf in the middle of the floor allowed two field hockey players to work on stickwork outside their normal practice time. Kristof Ongenaet of the basketball team was able run warm-ups on the AstroTurf. And rolling up parts of the turf allowed long jumpers to use the pits in place in the infield

In its first day of practice alone, Gross said women’s lacrosse, field hockey and softball all practiced on the new turf.

‘Where does softball go when they’re rained out or snowed out?’ Gross said. ‘What does lacrosse do when they’re in season and we only have 40 yards or 50 yards in the Dome for them to practice on? So all those thoughts went into it, and this way we can take care of 16 teams at one venue.’

Coaches are already beginning to appreciate having the extra practice facility at their disposal. Softball head coach Leigh Ross said her team could not have a practice in the Dome on Sunday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, but instead became one of the first teams to utilize the new Manley turf.

When she saw the new look for the first time, Ross said it exceeded her expectations.

‘I was very happy with the way it actually laid out,’ Ross said. ‘It was more than I thought it would be. And just to have any access to more than one place so when there is a conflict or something runs over a practice, or maybe you have a Saturday when you just want to get another practice in.’

Ross said the times are few and far between when her team does not have access to the Dome, but with a case like Sunday, it’s reassuring to know that now there is an alternative for the heavily booked Dome.

For field hockey head coach Ange Bradley, the Manley renovation is more beneficial for the specifics of her sport. The Dome features FieldTurf, a softer surface more closely resembling grass. Since college field hockey games take place on AstroTurf, the new conditions at Manley are more ideal for her needs.

‘We don’t like the FieldTurf,’ Bradley said. ‘It’s slow, and it doesn’t help our sport, and it doesn’t help us get better.’

The Dome FieldTurf has also caused problems for lacrosse coach John Desko, but in a completely different way. Since the Dome switched to FieldTurf in 2005, converting the Dome from a basketball setup to a football or lacrosse setup has become about a 10-hour process. As a result, it is rarely converted in the transition period between basketball and lacrosse season, forcing the team to practice on a half-size field.

This year, Desko brought his team back for training a week before classes started. With both men’s and women’s basketball on the road, he was able to have the Dome converted to a full field, which he said helps during preseason conditioning.

‘We get a lot done this time of year just from having a full field,’ Desko said on Jan. 11.

For Gross, the renovation started helping his athletic programs before the first piece of turf was laid. Bradley, who just completed her first season as field hockey coach, said when Gross was recruiting her to become the next field hockey coach, he showed her drawings of what Manley will eventually look like.

And in a place with winters as harsh as those in Syracuse, Bradley knew how valuable off-season practice facilities would be.

‘Championships are won and lost in the offseason,’ Bradley said. ‘The offseason is so important to preparing for what you’re doing next.’

Published on January 23, 2008 at 12:00 pm