While UTD has boasted about the success of its national cricket tournament, beneath the gilded surface of its athletic achievements lies a deeper issue: the glaring lack of support for new student-run athletic organizations. While established teams have the facilities they need to thrive, emerging groups face a different reality. Many new student organizations struggle with a lack of access to training spaces, equipment or resources to grow. This neglect stifles student innovation and passion, leaving many promising organizations with no opportunity to reach their potential. It’s time for UTD’s administration to recognize that investing in all student athletics, not just its existing teams, is vital to fostering a diverse and dynamic athletic community.
I remember feeling eager and optimistic about my future here when I accepted my enrollment offer at UTD. And though I have thrived academically and immensely enjoyed the school of EPPS, I wanted to bring a personal interest of mine to my university. Throughout my time in high school, one of my passions was lacrosse. The fast pace and teamwork involved in the game was invigorating, allowing me to channel my competitive spirit, and over the years, my dedication to the sport and my team led to me becoming team captain.
Since my freshman year at UTD, I’ve worked on founding a women’s lacrosse team. I would never have predicted that the biggest roadblock throughout this entire experience would be university administration. Despite the challenges, I have remained committed to this cause, sacrificing my time and energy to make this team a reality. I had hoped that the preexisting men’s lacrosse team would signal support from the Student Organization Center, SOC and Athletics staff, but unfortunately, it did not.
I started the women’s lacrosse team in early 2024, the spring semester of my freshman year. Right off the bat, challenges manifested. It took one month from the time I submitted my revised constitution until a single meeting could be scheduled to officially recognize our student organization. However, that problem seems insignificant compared to the mountain of challenges that arose once we were officially recognized.
Lacrosse shares many similarities with soccer: it involves a goal, a ball that passes from player to player and most importantly, a field. UTD has many fields on campus, so one would assume that reserving a field would be a feasible task. I initially contacted the SOC regarding field access and was directed to the director of athletic facilities. From there, I was advised to reach out to University Recreation, where I spoke to two individuals who redirected me back to the Director of Athletic Facilities. This pattern continued, and I found myself being bounced between multiple individuals. Over time, I contacted various people, including the director of athletic affairs, the club sports director, the supervisor of the club sports director, several SOC staff members, Student Government and even the head of Student Affairs — all in pursuit of a single field. When it became clear that my efforts within the university were futile, I reached out to external contacts, including government officials responsible for state parks. Unfortunately, because we were affiliated with UTD, securing an athletic field outside of the university required insurance that UTD refused to provide. As a result, I was stuck in a catch-22. I couldn’t obtain a facility at UTD, and because we were a UTD organization, I also couldn’t secure one anywhere else.
After months of emailing, we were reluctantly allowed to use just one field: the multi-purpose field. Sadly, calling it a fixer-upper would be generous. The field is riddled with potholes that cause numerous problems and impair players during the game. We used this field for months despite these hurdles, which significantly limited our ability to practice.
In total, I easily contacted over 50 people about securing a proper field for my team and no one was willing or able to assist me. UTD women’s lacrosse has all the makings of a flourishing organization: we have 30 invested players, a full staff board and all the necessary equipment. The one thing we are lacking is a safe and uncontested field for my girls to play on. At every step, the people whose jobs are to help students like me make UTD a richer and more well-rounded university have failed to do so. Whether they were unable to help, offloaded me to be someone else’s problem or simply didn’t reply, the greatest obstacle standing in the way of women’s lacrosse — and any new athletic organization — isn’t garnering interest, but the lack of effort and support from the university itself.