Eyeopener Sports Staff
Most rams like thick, lush grass. The Ryerson Rams, however, would like it trimmed.
The soccer program unveiled its new home this past weekend at De La Salle College in Toronto. The private high school has agreed to share its football field with Ryerson after the team’s home, Birchmont Stadium, was suddenly closed for renovations three weeks ago.
“It’s fantastic. The grass needs to be cut,” said Tony La Ferrara, the head coach of the men’s team.
The grass is kept tall and thick to avoid being torn up by the cleats of the De La Salle college football team. In 2002, De La Salle became the smallest high school to ever win the Ontario Federation of School Athletics Associations’ (OFSAA) football championship. Soccer fields are traditionally cut shorter.
“The unfortunate part is that the grass it too high. It affected us moving the ball around,” said women’s coach Peyvand Mossavat. “Other than that, the facility is great.”
Players struggled through the uneven and thick grass, their cleats disappearing with every step.
The last-minute arrangements with De La Salle College saved a homeless Rams team this season. Birchmont was closed after the City of Toronto began renovation of the aging facility ahead of schedule. The move brings the Rams one block west of Summerhill station, just south of St. Clair Avenue.
“What the university is doing for this program is just unbelievable. They’ve gone all the way. They’ve made a commitment to the program,” La Ferrara said. “Hopefully we can repay them somehow. Hopefully we can put a couple of wins together and get to the playoffs and do what we’re supposed to do, because we can do it. We can do it.”
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