By Kavin Mistry and Daniel Reedy:
The San Jose State softball team is no stranger to success, but it seems five-straight winning seasons and a chance to capture SJSU’s third overall Mountain West athletics title in Spartan history is not enough to get the respect the team deserves.
SJSU has had to play almost all of its home games this season off-campus due to the new golf facility which took the place of the old softball field.
“It is so much more than a ring for us this year,” said senior outfielder Chelsea Jenner. “I mean, not having a field, we are just out here to prove a point that we are super strong and nothing is holding us back.”
This past weekend, the Spartans played arguably their biggest series of the season when they welcomed the formerly-top team in the conference, the Utah State Aggies, to town — well, not this town, but Mission College in Santa Clara, where the team has played the majority of its home games this season.
The Spartans swept the Aggies in front of some of the largest home crowds of the season and are now in the driver’s seat to take the Mountain West Championship, which would secure an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
But the SJSU Athletics Department, from the eyes of an observer, doesn’t seem to care.
While the SJSU baseball team gets graphics, a photographer, consistent social media presence, a home stadium across from SJSU and live video at every home game, the cards are stacked against the softball team.
Does the discrepancy between the attention given to the men’s baseball team as opposed to the women’s softball team infuriate softball head coach Peter Turner?
“Oh yeah,” Turner said. “I wouldn’t want my daughter to not get things that a male employee gets.”
The SJSU Spartans Athletics Twitter account has yet to directly post anything all semester about the softball team. The only content that can be found on the team is through the press releases on the website and live tweets, but only for road games, this season on the softball Twitter page.
The glaring problem of the school’s most thriving athletics program is the lack of a home and the inability for any games at Mission College to be watched online.
According to Turner, all conference softball games at home must be recorded and shared amongst the teams within the conference. San Jose State does not film its home games because “they do not have the wireless infrastructure” at Mission College’s softball facility.
Turner clarified that while this is a rule violation, there is an “understanding” due to the issues at Mission College.
This not only prevents the team from receiving the exposure it deserves, but also prevents fans from watching the team play, impedes families’ ability staying connected with the team and damages the Spartans’ ability to recruit.
“I know for a fact that the team has lost two or three top recruits because of not having a facility,” said first baseman Madison Aurin’s stepfather Scott Finney.
Turner explained that he wants and supports what is best for Spartan sports as a whole, but the sacrifices the team made this season would be incredibly detrimental to the softball program if the same situation continues into 2018.
“I don’t mind taking a hit for one year,” Turner said. “But outside of that, I will begin to lose my recruits, my support and that winning spirit.”
Turner said prospective players are disinclined to commit to the program due to the field issue which, in addition to being inconvenient and substandard, deters the players who want to observe the team they are considering joining.
“This puts me at a huge disadvantage when my recruits can’t see us play and where my recruits can’t see our facility,” Turner said.
For families of the players who don’t live near SJSU, they can follow the team online and watch the games via live stream — away games at least. For home games, their only option is following the contests on Gametracker, which is comparable to ESPN’s Gamecast. While it tracks the game, it doesn’t compare to actually watching matchup live.
“Do you know how frustrating that is at home?” Emma Entzminger father, John Entzminger said. “I have to watch the game on Gametracker … it is the most painful — it tells you nothing. It’s super frustrating.”
John Entzminger continued saying he knew players who specifically wanted their daughters to play in the Mountain West because of the conference’s regulations.
“You can’t go anywhere without hearing about [the field issue]. You can talk to any parent — they’re not happy about it.”
The Entzmingers are from Canada and while John manages to travel down for three to four weekends a year, he obviously can’t make it to watch every game. He relies on the live stream to see his daughter and the Spartans play but for the blacked-out games, he’s in the dark.
The lack of a home base seems to spawn many of the problems but unfortunately for the team, the plans aren’t set and the chances that a new home stadium will be completed in time aren’t high.
“[The Spartans] need to plan to be off campus another year,” said San Jose State interim athletic director Marie Tuite in an interview with Scout.com. “All in all, we’re working feverishly to get the off campus teams back on campus as expeditiously as possible.”
Coach Turner echoed the doubt.
“Is it a done deal? No. Are they putting things in place to move the project forward? Yes. Do I feel 100 percent confident that we’ll be playing on our own field next year? No. Do I see that as a huge problem? Absolutely,” Turner said. “We cannot go through another year like we did this year.”
Last May, the new golf facility project began at South Campus, which included tearing down the baseball practice facility, the soccer practice fields and the softball field. Since they were demolished, the athletic department has only created a home facility for the soccer team. A brand new pitch built alongside CEFCU Stadium. The baseball team already had been playing its games at Municipal Stadium (across the street from the golf facility) and the softball team was left with no stadium or practice facility.
“They deserve a lot better than this,” Finney said. “I wrote a letter and in that letter I said these girls deserve more, give them something to be proud of when they are done here.”
Finney praised Spartan softball for the team’s resilience and success and, like John Entzminger, saw the field issue as the main concern for the program. John Entzminger called the softball program “Awesome.”
It’s a shame that such a successful team is not getting the recognition and attention the players and coaches deserve.
However, they are not letting this set-back distract them. Instead, according to Turner, the Spartans “play with a chip on their shoulder” and use the struggles as a driving force to perform better and fight for a conference championship.
“SJSU can clinch its first MW title with no field and no benefits,” Jenner posted on Twitter. “Just hard work from the coaches and players who care about the program.”
