Picture this: you’ve hit a full sprint dribbling down the field, the goal forty yards ahead of you, glory within your grasp. You can almost hear the fated shouts of your teammates: “MVP! MVP! MVP! Oh my god, you are the GOAT, Y/N.” External validation is but one end-of-scrimmage goal away. Then the whistle blows; practice is over. It is not even 5:20 pm. Please pack your things and leave.
Since my first fall playing at Moriarty Athletic Campus as a wee freshman, I’ve wanted lights. As the sunsets come earlier and earlier, and the fields grow darker faster, team practices are gradually cut short — first, perhaps by twenty minutes; at the end of the season, by an hour. Saying goodbye to my team this fall, I can’t help but wish I had that time back. What more could we have accomplished? What did we miss?
Lights won’t just benefit fall sports teams — they’ll make the fields safe and accessible for longer throughout the whole year. Moriarty is essentially dormant after sunset, which leaves the space heavily underutilized in the winter. Doesn’t that feel like a bit of a waste? Yes, purchasing lights is a hefty investment, but Moriarty itself is an investment, too, and the more we utilize the space, the higher our return rate.
Lights also seem to be a simple solution for a load of complex scheduling issues. Without the safety concerns posed by sunsets, we wouldn’t have to play home games as early as 3 pm later in the season. For those who may not know, 3 o’clock games mean 2 o’clock warmups, which means very early dismissals — which mean missed commitments and the whole Orah-emails-Jackie shtick. Scheduling can become that much easier with just one simple addition: lights.
Yes, this is a pricey proposal, but it would be a worthy investment. Besides, who doesn’t love a nighttime game? The ambiance is unbeatable. If I graduate as an unknown, unmemorable loser, let my legacy be this proposition: let’s light up Moriarty.