Since the University of Texas Permian Basin opened its fields for use by local sports organizations, the response has been “overwhelming.”
Director of Athletics Todd Dooley said they have 93 acres, about 14 diamonds and space for 20 to 30 rectangle grass fields that they can set up in any dimensions.
Dooley said they have ordered portable soccer goals that will allow them to reconfigure the dimensions of any of the fields for soccer.
“We also have the capability of … having any other field sport on those fields, so flag football, peewee football. It really opens up the opportunities for sports to take place out there now,” Dooley said.
He added that the university has heard from almost 100 teams such as Little League Baseball, softball, adult softball, flag football, peewee football and soccer.
Dooley said they haven’t started their marketing push yet, which should begin in November.
They ordered portable soccer goals from Athletic Supply and they were projected to arrive the first week of November.
Sports Facilities Management was hired to book the fields. Dooley said UTPB is one of almost two-dozen properties that the firm manages. Efforts to reach the firm were unsuccessful.
They had a presence in Texas and had worked with Pecos, which has a sportsplex.
“They have a plug and play marketing arm. It’s a one-stop-shop for us for management. They have the food and beverage covered. They have the marketing. They have a curriculum,” Dooley said.
“Let’s say you’re a parent and your son or daughter wants to play soccer and you show up there and nobody’s there to coach and you get volunteered to be the coach and you know nothing about soccer. They have a curriculum that they can hand you with practice plans to help teach that team soccer,” he added. “… They have all of this and it’s just really turnkey.”
If there is revenue generated over and above the expenses, the university will get that money back. He added that UTPB President Sandra Woodley has made it a point to say that the funds will come back to athletics “since we’re carrying the water on it.”
Dooley said Sports Facilities Management was the only bid that came in.
It will cost upwards of a quarter million dollars a year, he said. But under the arrangement, UTPB doesn’t have to worry about staffing or marketing.
“We’re able to tap into their national presence on a lot of things and (that) brings with it a certain level of professionalism and elevation. They’ve been able to walk the property several times when they’ve come into town and they’ve notified us of some areas of capital improvements that need to be touched like painting the facilities and really getting in there and power washing, or really sanitizing the restrooms and some of those things that that are pointing to that if we went out and hired somebody, we may not be able to get to that point. So they’ve really helped us identify how to give a better product, if you will,” Dooley said.
Woodley said professional management of the fields will benefit the entire community.
“They are experts and our community deserves that level of service. We have been delighted to see so many people using the fields for practice and recreational activities. And there’s so much more to come,” Woodley said.
Dooley said they are working on a capital project list to touch up some spots, install some new fencing or put in new shade structures.
The management firm provides UTPB with the operating budget that they need.
“If they’re big-ticket items, we talk about what those expenses are but essentially that’s on the university to help fund that …,” Dooley said.
With the soccer goals, for example, Sports Facilities Management purchased them and the university reimburses the firm “because we’ve contracted with them.”
The fields are currently being used by local groups.
“We haven’t started the tournament push just yet. We anticipate that will take off this spring. And there’s already been some interest with baseball tournaments. We’re looking at any tournament that may see Odessa as too small a location to come in because they need a certain level of fields. But an SFM is able to tap into, let’s say, Midland and Odessa combined have enough baseball fields to host this tournament. And we can bring in some larger tournaments. … We’re really making a push right now to plan on the spring and summer for hosting those,” Dooley said.
Although he hasn’t gotten any feedback personally, Dooley said he thinks people are pleased with the new arrangement.
“I think they’re thrilled to be able to get out there and use them in a way that they’ve not been able to be utilized before now. … It’s great to drive by there in the evenings to see all the cars and the kids out there playing soccer …,” he added.
The fields are currently open all the time. But Dooley said there will be set hours in the future.
“… We expect to have a general manager on site within the next two or three weeks and they can really start managing those pieces of it,” Dooley said.
The university would draw some travel tournaments, but they don’t want to lose sight of local leagues or access to the fields for local residents.
“… Maximizing those tournament weekends would be a huge swing for us and we really want to be an economic driver from the sports tourism standpoint. It’s untapped potential. We’ve not really ever had the opportunity to host anything like that in Odessa and I think it’s really ripe for the picking right now,” he added.
In the short term, Dooley said the complex will be rebranded. UTPB also is looking at improvements like installing turf, expansion and lighting.
Dooley said he would love to have events there year-round.
“ECISD had their cross country meet out there a few weeks ago and they’re going to have a couple more out there; those kinds of things where we’re partnering with groups and making sure that we’re being accessible in every way possible to host sporting events out there,” he added.
Dooley said they haven’t talked about creating spaces for tennis, basketball and volleyball, for example.
Indoor space could be a possibility.
“… We regularly get requests from UIL, especially teams coming from the Metroplex or El Paso, and this happens to be the middle ground instead of one traveling all the way to the other. Sometimes we’re able to accommodate and sometimes we’re not. It’s just the nature of being able to have the facilities on hand …,” Dooley said.
Currently, he said the focus is to bring people to campus because the comment she’s heard often is that people never knew a certain feature was out there because they might not have been to the campus in a while.
“… Just being able to have the community on campus is a big deal for us,” Dooley said.
As a side note, Dooley said there are no plans for a football stadium or a shopping mall.
He added that people ask about a football stadium all the time and there are “a lot of conversations going on.”
“We’ve not put pen to paper, identified a spot on campus, or anything like that. But you know, we recognize the need for it. I think it’s something that would really transform campus and really tether students to campus on the weekends,” Dooley said.
