Carol McPhillips Roberts Field House

The entrance to the Carol Roberts Field House is rather unassuming. The one entrance opens up to Central Avenue. It is one asphalt road with a sign smaller than a mini cooper and unimpressive. Across from this entrance is Cox Cage, the giant track facility, Tsai Center, the lacrosse and soccer facility, and the Yale Bowl. The buildings all have a similar color palate and an emphasis on glass windows. It is here that a rather large percentage of student-athletes take the Yale shuttles to attend practice every day. There is little foot traffic or visitors who come to this area of Yale.

Once one enters the gates toward Carol Roberts field house, they are made to walk around .2 miles to the facility. This walk is also rather unimpressive. On one side, the intermural field sits. On the other side, there is a large space where the Yale Armory used to lie. The Carol Roberts Field House is significantly removed from the rest of the athletic facilities. In fact, one of the largest problems with construction was getting the necessary plumbing to a location so far. Built after the fields were placed, the Carol Roberts Field House needed to be next to the fields. Yet, the field were designed away from the Armory, a building that has since been demolished. There are little to no neighbors to the Carol Roberts Field House. Surrounded by grass fields, the area around Carol Roberts is primarily used by intermural sports like soccer and flag football.

The Carol Roberts Field House is surrounded by trees. Because of this and its central location in the Yale fields, its relatively separated from the residential neighborhood. Yet, it is relatively close to quant houses nearby. The neighborhood contains family unit houses. The lights on the field and overall sound on the field is operated to ensure that this residential neighborhood is not disturbed. Circling the field in a car, one would not be able to tell the field is there. As seen in the 1973 Sanborn and the 2022 Google Map, the neighborhood has not changed with many structures staying exactly the same.

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The Carol Roberts Field House was built to be situated between the field hockey field and softball field. Before these were built, the field was empty, only having the Armory. Built in 1917, the Yale Armory was largely unused in its last decade. (Adieu). Yet, when in use, the building featured a large drill hill, a shooting range, and horse stables. In 2010, the building was deemed beyond repair and eventually removed in 2019. (Dickinson)

On one side of the Carol Roberts Field House, softball’s 5k Corral Field opened for its first game in 2001. The field, built closer to the trees, uses this backdrop to serve as a natural wind screen. The design was by architect Brian A. Ameche and built by Clark Construction Company. (Corral Field) Additionally, the field contains a fully enclosed press box and 350-seat stadium. Before 2018, the dirt and grass were replaced with field turf and bullpens, batting cages, outfield fences, and dugout were upgraded. A former Yale female athlete, Karen Yarasavage, was a major donor to the renovation. The installation of a new turf field was especially necessary as with their grass field, games would be regularly cancelled (in one year, 14 out of 48 games) due to temperate weather destroying the grass. Milone & MacBroom were the civil engineers and landscape architects for the turf. This installation coincided with the opening of the Carol Roberts Field House.

The Johnson Field was also opened in 2001. The field contains a 750-seat complex and a sports lighting system. This system was specially designed to accommodate its residential location, using glare and spill control to only light the field and not the surrounding areas. During 2000 to 2008, the Johnson Field also was used by the Yale Women’s Lacrosse team. In 2022, there were multi-million-dollar improvements to its facilities. (Johnson)These upgrades included a video scoreboard, spanning more than 35 feet long. The scoreboard was named after Lorraine Pratte Lewis, the Yale Field Hockey Association President and a former Yale Field Hockey alum. Additionally, a new turf field was installed with six automatic irrigation heads. (Rubin) Now, the Johnson Field is one of the most impressive field hockey facilities within the United States.

The Welcome Back Event in 2023 chose the Carol Roberts Field House as their location. The event coincides with a game, driving other student-athletes to support fellow Elis. With its observation deck and glassed structure, I knew that no matter the weather, the event could proceed. Hosting this event would draw a large crowd that would not have been possible just over five years ago. Before the Carol Roberts Field House, crowds would be forced to sit on dirt piles, hardly the location for a school-wide welcome back event. Additionally, the bathroom and nearest locker room was almost .5 miles away, thus creating an uncomfortable walk for athletes and audiences alike. The addition of this facility created an environment of increased attendance never before possible and symbolized an increase of attention on sports especially female.

Coeducation at Yale began in 1969. Almost instantly, women began to make themselves known in athletics. (50 years, 1) Although at first not offered organized athletics, eventually, field hockey, squash, and tennis were the first varsity sports. (50 years, 2) The granting of varsity status did not guarantee an equal playing field. Often times, early women would describe the field hockey field, covered with beer bottles from football games the nights before. Additionally, lack of resources led to an underreporting on female sports and harassment from other schools, as seen in the Princeton Yale field hockey game. (50 years, 2) Yet, women’s athletics prevailed with more teams being added. In 1980, field hockey won their first Ivy title and in 1993, softball won their first title. (50 years, 4) At times, women were performing significantly better than men, like in 1976 when women had the best-win loss record in the Ivy League. (50 years, 4)

The story of equality for women has often revolved around the locker room long before the Carol Roberts field house. Women’s crew staged a protest against their lack of adequate changing and shower facilities in 1976, leading to nationwide attention and an increase in facilities. After other complaints, locker rooms were expanded to Smilow, meant to address “the systemic inequities Yale Women’s team faced since their inception.” (50 years, 4) Carol Roberts Field House was the most extensive and impressive aspect of this addition.

The Carol Robert Field House was largely funded by Carol Roberts, who donated four million of the six million dollars needed for the creation. (Longman) Carol Roberts, during her time at Yale, played on the field hockey and softball team, winning an Ivy League championship in both. She eventually ascended the corporate ladder to lead the Weyerhaeuser’s packaging business, winning her the George H.W. Bush Lifetime of Leadership Award in 2009. (George H.W. Bush) Thinking back at her time at athletic facilities, Carol Roberts would chuckle, reminiscing that both the softball and field hockey team shared on portable toilet. (Longman) Now, the field hockey and softball have access to numerous bathrooms and a plethora of other resources.

Her donation follows a trend seen throughout many colleges athletic programs. Victoria Chun, the first female athletic director at Yale, states that she saw a drastic increase of female athletes reaching out. (Longman) The director of athletics at Indiana echoed this sentiment. This increase in philanthropy seems to be due to an increase in funds from women as they were able to acquire higher paying jobs. The Carol Roberts Field House symbolizes a moment of regaining power within the athletic community for female athletes that has been long overdue.

The entrance to the Carol Roberts Field House is rather unassuming. The one entrance opens up to Central Avenue. It is one asphalt road with a sign smaller than a mini cooper and unimpressive. Across from this entrance is Cox Cage, the giant track facility, Tsai Center, the lacrosse and soccer facility, and the Yale Bowl. The buildings all have a similar color palate and an emphasis on glass windows. It is here that a rather large percentage of student-athletes take the Yale shuttles to attend practice every day. There is little foot traffic or visitors who come to this area of Yale.

Once one enters the gates toward Carol Roberts field house, they are made to walk around .2 miles to the facility. This walk is also rather unimpressive. On one side, the intermural field sits. On the other side, there is a large space where the Yale Armory used to lie. The Carol Roberts Field House is significantly removed from the rest of the athletic facilities. In fact, one of the largest problems with construction was getting the necessary plumbing to a location so far. Built after the fields were placed, the Carol Roberts Field House needed to be next to the fields. Yet, the field were designed away from the Armory, a building that has since been demolished. There are little to no neighbors to the Carol Roberts Field House. Surrounded by grass fields, the area around Carol Roberts is primarily used by intermural sports like soccer and flag football.

The Carol Roberts Field House is surrounded by trees. Because of this and its central location in the Yale fields, its relatively separated from the residential neighborhood. Yet, it is relatively close to quant houses nearby. The neighborhood contains family unit houses. The lights on the field and overall sound on the field is operated to ensure that this residential neighborhood is not disturbed. Circling the field in a car, one would not be able to tell the field is there. As seen in the 1973 Sanborn and the 2022 Google Map, the neighborhood has not changed with many structures staying exactly the same.