In November, Marsha Dodson Field was torn up, leaving its namesake donor in dismay and the field hockey team without a permanent field. The state of the Cornell field hockey team continues to remain unknown as its new field on Game Farm Road is “unlikely to be ready” for the arrival of the team in August per an email to field hockey players from Athletic Director Nicki Moore that was obtained by The Sun.
The Game Farm Road construction project contains two phases that are set to give the field hockey team a brand new NCAA regulated turf to play on and state-of-the-art amenities including restrooms, locker rooms, coaches offices and meeting areas. According to the email, the “current estimated completion window” for the project is “mid-September to mid-October.”
Moore explained to the team that the clubhouse phase of the project’s planning is in progress with “municipal approvals expected soon” timelining a “fall construction start.” She also told the players that the training facility phases “design and initial cost estimates” were finalized and that construction of this phase with the clubhouse was contingent on the team meeting its “$6 million fundraising goal by October 1, 2025.”
Moore provided the team a link to the “fundraising effort” which outlines the the schedule of the project and how the donated funds would be utilized. Moore also referred to the field as “the new Marsha Dodson Field” in the email.
The Sun spoke to Marsha Dodson ’75 M.R.P. ’76 who said she “wasn’t expecting” the University to name the field in her honor and that it was “very nice of them to do.”
Dodson, who was previously not told that her namesake field was razed, said that the status of the field “has not been communicated to her.”
In addition, Dodson told The Sun that she hopes that alumni including herself “will step up to the plate” and that she hopes the University “communicates more clearly and frequently” with her.
Without a field, the team will train in the Ramin Room according to Moore’s email. In a previous statement in January, Moore told the team that it would have “priority access to the Ramin Room while they do not have a dedicated facility.”
According to the email sent to the team on Friday, due to the “fluid” timeline caused by “a very wet spring and early summer” the athletics department has “activated” its “contingency plan in Barton Hall” which Moore anticipates will be the setting for practices “by the end of August.”
Moore described the logistics and rough timeline of the completion of the temporary home field in Barton.
When asked about if she knew that the team may have to play some of its games at Barton, Dodson said that she “knew nothing” about that possibility and “no one had communicated” it to her at all.
“I know nothing, but I can tell you I am not particularly happy that I have been told nothing,” Dodson said. “I am in the dark and I had no idea that they were going to be putting down the turf in Barton Hall.”
Dodson told The Sun she received a copy of the email Monday afternoon.
The team’s schedule remains unavailable to the public, while last year it was announced on July 9, 2024. Cornell now remains the only Ivy League team that has not announced its fall slate. All other Ivy opponents — including Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania — have published their schedules. Notably, each of the previously mentioned teams is set to play the Red in Ithaca.
On the Colgate University Athletics website, Cornell is scheduled to play a home game in Ithaca against the Raiders with the location listed as “TBA.”
According to the email, the Red will play its first two pre-season games against Colgate and Waterloo University at the Colgate Field — which is roughly an hour and a half away from campus.
When asked about the progress of the field, a University spokesperson did not offer additional information. A spokesperson for Cornell Athletics did not respond in time for comment.
Moore ended the email by telling the team she would continue to provide updates on the status of the field as athletics “closely monitor[s] construction milestones and progress through August.”
“If, in early August, progress at the new Marsha Dodson Field at Game Farm Road suggests that it will be available for the majority of the season, we may revisit the Barton Hall plan and adjust early September games as needed,” Moore’s email stated. “We will be in touch again before any final decisions are made.”
Zeinab Faraj is a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the features editor on the 143rd Editorial Board and was the assistant sports editor of the 143rd Editorial Board. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
