The Penn soccer teams are both off to promising starts, but seeing the teams in action is harder than ever.
Construction of the new Penn Park has blocked nearly all pedestrian pathways to Rhodes Field, making it difficult for fans, players and coaches to reach the pitch.
The only unblocked route requires a circuitous trip, taking pedestrians south on 38th Street to University Avenue before following Rivers Field Drive past Meiklejohn Stadium and circling all the way back toward 31st Street.
Last year, students could access Rhodes Field via the Paley Bridge, which leads to the Levy Tennis Pavilion and Class of 1923 Ice Rink, and the Weave Bridge, which was built to allow pedestrians to cross over the Amtrak rail lines.
According to the Penn Facilities and Real Estate Services website, both those bridges will be closed until fall 2011.
In order to help students reach Rhodes Field, Penn Transit runs a weekday shuttle between David Rittenhouse Laboratories and the Hollenback Annex, which is located adjacent to Rhodes Field, from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM.
At night, students can call 215-898-RIDE to be transported to and from Hollenback from anywhere within the Penn Transit boundaries.
However, there are no daytime shuttles available on weekends — when most games are played — and no shuttles operate on University holidays.
While the blocked pathways could be seen as roadblock to increasing attendance for a men’s team that has a good chance of returning to the NCAA Tournament and a women’s team that is on pace to enjoy similar success, so far, turnout has been encouraging.
In the first game of the Penn Soccer Classic against a strong George Mason squad Friday night, the official attendance was 325 people, and the bleachers were mostly full.
By comparison, the first Penn Soccer Classic match last year against Albany also fell on a Friday night, and the official attendance was only 232.
Men’s coach Rudy Fuller acknowledged that the current walk to Rhodes Field is “a bit of a trek,” but he expressed optimism that fans would find a way to come out in full force to support what he believes is a competitive and entertaining team.
While the closures forced by the Penn Park construction may be even more of a nuisance to student-athletes who often travel by bike to the fields, Fuller sees it as a minor, unavoidable inconvenience until the South Street Bridge reopens in November.
