Riders will skip U of S training camp for year
SASKATOON Griffiths Stadium is getting a fresh look: New playing surface, upgraded lights, and the old track gone.
The University of Saskatchewan announced the $3 million facelift on Tuesday, and because of the timing, the Saskatchewan Roughriders won’t have their next training camp in Saskatoon. It will be held in Regina starting May 17.
“That (previous) generation of turf would have a normal life expectation of 10 years. This one, through a lot of repairs and Bandaids, lasted us 13,” Huskies’ chief athletics officer Dave Hardy said Tuesday. “With this next generation of turf, we might get 12 years out of it. But we were beginning to talk about safety issues.”
Work is expected to start in April if weather permits, and to be finished in time for the 2020 fall sports season.
The previous turf field was installed in time for the 2006 Vanier Cup, which Saskatoon hosted. Before that, the Huskies’ football team played on a natural-grass surface. Hardy said the university is interested in hosting another Vanier in conjunction with Regina staging a future Grey Cup, and these renovations are one step along that path.
The new field will be moved a few yards closer to the east grandstand, and it will be expanded into a fullsized soccer surface. The men’s and women’s soccer teams will play their home games there going forward, and Hardy says the stadium will now be capable of hosting international soccer matches and U Sports championships.
The aged track that surrounds the playing surface is coming out, and the long-term plan is to demolish the west grandstand and move it closer to the field.
“Part of the reason for the renovation,” Hardy said, “is to eventually end up with fans much closer to the field, and to enhance the fan experience.”
The new turf will provide added shock absorption and will get an antimicrobial treatment, while the upgraded lighting will reduce power consumption.
The Roughriders, meanwhile, announced that they’ll take a oneyear break from holding training camp in Saskatoon. They will still hold Green and White Day on May 23 in Saskatoon at SMF Field.
The squad had held training camp in Saskatoon every year since 2013.
“The facilities at Griffiths Stadium have served us well over the last several years we’ve run training camp out of Saskatoon, but we are excited to see what’s to come at the stadium after the upgrades are complete,” Roughriders’ president and CEO Craig Reynolds said in a statement released by the team.
Reynolds told Postmedia in May that, one-offs aside, the team plans to continue holding training camp in Saskatoon. They stay in the adjacent student dorms, and eat meals on campus.
“Honestly, our team loves it,” Reynolds said. “The facilities at Griffiths Stadium are fantastic — the dorms, and the proximity of everything. It works really well for the team.”