Another practice canceled. With only days leading up to the first round of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) games, Ian Tapsall, head coach of the Staples High School girls’ field hockey team, was irritated. This had been the 10th practice this season cut short due to the sun setting before the scheduled end of practice. He knew why this was necessary – of course he couldn’t have his girls playing in the dark – but what angered him most was how easy this problem was to solve. All he needed were some field lights. 

Virginia, ‘Ginny’, Parker field, home of the Staples’ field hockey teams and Staples girls’ lacrosse teams, has no lights. Due to darkness on the fields as a result of early sunsets, both teams are often forced to cut practices short. Without lights, these teams cannot safely compete for the full time allotted to them. 

This past season, the girls’ field hockey team practiced five times a week from 3:15-5:00 p.m. However, as the season progressed, and the days began to get shorter, it was not uncommon for practice to end a full 30 minutes earlier, at 4:30. 

“The lack of lights directly impacts the efficiency of our practices,” field hockey captain Ava Ekholdt ’22 said. “It is unfair that the lack of lights causes us to limit our practice times which can really negatively impact the team and our success in the season.” 

Because every field in Westport is allowed to be used until 8:00 p.m, the field hockey team loses 190 hours of potential field time each season, according to Tapsall. 

For the junior varsity field hockey team, the lack of lights had a significant effect on gameplay. This past season, junior varsity played games after varsity, usually beginning around 5:00 p.m, Alex Hackett ’25,  junior varsity field hockey team member, explained. 

“[Because of] early sunsets, it got dark way too quickly, [causing] many JV games to get cut short,”  Hackett said.

Ekholdt speaks for the entire field hockey program in saying that the lack of lights puts the program at an unfair disadvantage.  

“I feel that the lack of lights is a reflection on how the administration views our sport,” Ekholdt said.

“It is shocking to me and the field hockey community that we receive such limited respect from the administration after the outstanding success the field hockey team has had in the past years.”

The Staples girls’ lacrosse team, occupants of Ginny Parker field during the Spring season, shares the same struggle.  

“The lack of lights is unfair because other teams are able to practice after dark, while we can’t,” lacrosse captain Sara DiGiovanni ’22 said. “Other teams in the FCIACs have lights which gives them an advantage over us, because they are able to have longer practice times.” 

The lack of lights on Ginny Parker is a representation of a larger issue in high school sports – the prioritization of male sports and unequal opportunity for female teams. Despite practicing at Wakeman, which also lacks lights, the boys’ teams have access to the school’s football stadium to practice under the lights when it gets dark, an opportunity that the girls’ teams are not given. 

“If the school can only afford one field with lights, let those lights be available for all teams,” Kate Smith ’22 said. “It is frustrating that only boys’ [teams get to] play in the stadium where there are lights, but the girls’ teams don’t have access to that.” 

According to field hockey captain Lily Harrington ’22, Staples girls’ lacrosse and field hockey have joined forces to gain support for the installation of lights on Ginny Parker.

Recently, Staples’ field hockey spoke in front of the Board of Education in regards to this issue. They asked to use a portion of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund, associated with the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, designed to increase infrastructure, economic vitality and quality of life in Westport after the COVID-19 pandemic, to purchase lights for the field. The field hockey team believes that using the fund to install lights on Ginny Parker field would provide them with more time to practice and finally level the playing field between boys’ and girls’ sports at Staples.

“Overall, [the issue] is extremely unfair,” Ekholdt said. “Our field hockey team continues to be held back from reaching our fullest potential because of our lack of lights.”