Saint Vincent College Breaks Ground On New Turf Field
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LATROBE (KDKA) -- Saint Vincent College has played host to the Steelers Training Camp for more than 50 years, and Thursday, the campus got a new addition.
The college, with its rolling hills and beautiful buildings, is situated on more than 200 acres of land.
"What's great about Saint Vincent is they have lots of space. And so they have these beautiful grass fields and now they'll have a brand new turf field," Dr. Jeanne Doperak, a physician with UPMC Sports Medicine, said.
This year, with the Steelers still on campus, the school broke ground on a new athletic facility that will include a turf field.
"We are an NCAA Division III school. That means no athletic scholarships. The way you recruit students is to demonstrate the quality of your academic program, the facilities, the coaches. It's absolutely essential," Br. Norman Hipps, president of Saint Vincent College, said.
It's something the school has been looking to add for the past couple of years.
"For our students to have an opportunity for our soccer, lacrosse, intramurals, frisbee to have a place to play and a quality facility," Hipps said.
The Steelers are also happy about the changes they see.
"My dad loved coming up here," Art Rooney II said. "Over the years, he and we all have seen so many great improvements. Obviously 52 years is a long time, and it seems like every year things get better."
"The Steelers, too, will use it, on perhaps a rainy day," Hipps said. "This past summer we had a couple of heavy rain days and next year, they will stay."
The new turf field will give the Steelers and the college athletes at Saint Vincent more options and help protect everyone from injury.
"For years, we've provided medical care to the student athletes here at Saint Vincent College, and now to be able to invest in the community and provide them with a field surface that we would hope would be utilized and perhaps even reduce some of our injuries, especially on a rainy day," Doperak said.
The new field should be complete by next May.
