June 5, 2023

Monday, June 12, 5 p.m.

Outdoor sports activities will get a lift from the brand new Jets Sports Complex, now full on Central Campus. Community members are invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday, June 12 at 5 p.m.

The Jets Sports Complex, situated on the northeast nook of Central Campus, contains improved services for baseball and softball groups. Improved stands, press packing containers, dugouts and lighting for the ball fields, in addition to a brand new constructing with concession stands, restrooms and storage. Soccer groups might also profit from paved walkways and close by restrooms.

“Our facilities were outdated, they hadn’t been updated in years,” mentioned Jeremy Frew, chief tutorial and scholar affairs officer. “They needed updating, but the vision was bigger than that. We wanted to create a space that was inviting for the community and that we could share with the community.”

Designs for a College/Community Facility

Coaches and school directors started discussing upgrades to the services years in the past, softball Coach Jamie Vandenburgh mentioned. As groups grew to become extra aggressive and coaches began having an increasing number of potential athletes go to, the necessity for updates grew. Vandenburgh and baseball Coach Rick Smith each cited a necessity for improved dugouts.

“We would host summer tournaments, and our facilities weren’t quite up to where some other facilities were,” mentioned Smith, who has been with the College for 17 years. From there, President Daniel J. Phelan forged a imaginative and prescient for what the power could possibly be, with improved, heated dugouts – essential for early spring softball and baseball video games – lighting for evening video games, press packing containers and improved stands, and a constructing for restrooms, concessions and storage. Athletic Director Courtney Ivan, Vandenburgh, and Smith had been all concerned within the design section, and regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic delaying completion, everyone seems to be happy with the ultimate product.

“It’s nice to have our field this year,” Vandenburgh mentioned. “A lot of the teams coming to play us have shared how beautiful it is, and our own players love it.”

Reaching Out

This building was helped by a beneficiant donation from the Alvin Glick Foundation. Local excessive colleges and group teams have already used the complicated, and the regional baseball match for the Michigan Community College Athletic Association introduced greater than 300 guests to campus. Response from gamers, dad and mom and the group has been very optimistic, with many remarking on the power and campus.

“We will do as much as we can to have the community here using the facility,” Frew mentioned. “We want this to be an inviting atmosphere, from the lighted fields to the concessions and restrooms nearby. We’re excited about the new possibilities!”

The ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration will embrace transient remarks from school management and light-weight refreshments.

If any highschool or group teams want to use the power, attain out to A.D. Courtney Ivan within the Athletics Office, at 517.796.8628.

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