Bronx Science, without home field, perseveres

In the world of girl’s high school soccer, it’s not a stretch to call the Bronx High School of Science a premier program. After all, the Wolverines have reached the Public School Athletic Association (PSAL) championship game in each of the past four seasons, winning the city title three seasons ago.

But this past week, Bronx Science suffered what could arguably be called its worst loss of the season when a permit snafu with the Parks Department left the team without a home field for the balance of the season and head coach Annie Eckstein scrambling for a home when she should be gearing up for another championship run.    

“We’ve played at the Williamsbridge Oval since I’ve been here and it is about a 10-minute walk from the school,” Eckstein said. “But how this all happened was the PSAL requested the permits from the Parks Department and they scheduled our games for the Oval. So from the beginning of the season it looked like we’d be playing our home games there.

“Our commissioner [Will Stasiuk] suggested we check our schedule against the permits on file. I think it was on September 16 that I went to check for the permits and I noticed we actually did not have any permits for the Oval on the dates we were supposed to have them,” she continued. “So I alerted the commissioner to see if this was an issue we could resolve and unfortunately the Park Department had given the permits to another group so the PSAL has been scrambling to find fields for us to use for our home games.”

The snafu has already caused Bronx Science problems on game days as the team is now forced to find its own way to places such as Starlight Park in the South Bronx and Randall’s Island.

“[Last] Friday we had to play a home game at Starlight Park,” Eckstein said. “It’s not physically far from Bronx Science but by taking public transportation it took the girls 45 minutes to get there. And for home games we are required to set up the nets on the goals, the corner flags and just kind of prepare the field. And with that kind of travel time, it doesn’t give us adequate warm-up time and field prep time.”

Starlight Park is located at 174th Street and Sheridan Parkway and it took the Wolverines two trains and 50 minutes to arrive at the field. Some parents did drive some team members to the game because they were concerned they wouldn’t arrive on time, according to Eckstein.

“It was still a little disheveled because not everyone got a ride and some came by train,” Eckstein said.

The extra travel time is also cutting into homework and study time for members of the team and it’s not an issue taken lightly by the Bronx Science student-athletes.

“It’s really frustrating that we have to travel an hour to every game because they are all in Manhattan and now even our home field requires excessive travel,” said Amanda Kahn, one of the team captains. “It’s also frustrating because [last Thursday] we played at Starlight Field and I did not get home till 7:30 — at least 45 minutes later than normal — and I had an essay to write in French and a math test the following day and I had very little time to study.”

Lydia Wiener, the other team captain, had similar issues with Science’s field problems.

“When I heard we lost our home field for the season I felt cheated in a way,” Wiener said. “As a senior the Williamsbridge Oval has been our home for four years. It is the field we have preseason, practice, partake in team traditions and feel the most comfortable playing at. Not having that sense of continuity this season has hurt our work ethic. We have also had to miss significantly more classes, which we already miss lots of due to being a Bronx school playing in the Manhattan league. In order to get to these games we also have to spend money on vans or hope parents are available to drive.”

Worse grounds

The PSAL has managed to move some of the games in question to Harris Field, which is located near the school. But the field itself is far inferior to their usual home.

“It’s not a good surface,” Eckstein said. “Location-wise, it’s better not having to travel, but the surface itself is not good. The Oval has field turf, it’s a much better field that is supposed to reduce injury and it closely resembles playing on grass. There is also a nice area for spectators. But the one at Harris Field, there are lot of burn marks on the field itself from when people came in and had barbecues on the weekend and just brought their grills out on the field. Now there are patches on the field and it’s less cared for.”

Which makes Eckstein and her team worry about injury on the patchwork field.

“Yes, I worry about that and unfortunately the girls do, too, which affects the girl’s mental aspect,” Eckstein said.

With just over two weeks left in the regular season, it’s doubtful much can be done to accommodate one of the PSAL’s premier programs. But Eckstein said that whatever the outcome, she will do her best to avoid making the field problem an excuse for not reaching the title game again.

“This is not something that we are going to allow to affect us,” Eckstein said. “If we don’t make it to the championship game this year or win the championship, it’s not going to be because our games were not played on our home field. But it’s another obstacle that didn’t have to be there.”