Inside Out
Exploring the Great Indoors

The Wire, Cover Story, November 26, 2003

The dark end of the year is quickly approaching. The days have been getting shorter and shorter. It’s dark in the morning when I get up and dark when I return home at the end of the day. The air is cold, the wind is howling, and the fall-back-an-hour a few weeks ago slammed shut that tiny window of opportunity to get outside and get some exercise.

Faced with the option of merely watching more Joe Bazillionaire and putting on 20 lbs. by the holiday season, there are a few alternative methods to keep up a summery level of activity. So you like to play soccer in the park on a warm afternoon? How about field hockey, lacrosse, flag football or ultimate Frisbee? Depending on your age you can enjoy any of these activities all winter long at the Seacoast United Soccer Arena or York Sports Center. What about skateboarding, inline skating, BMX or mountain biking? You’ll find ample challenge at the Rye Airfield. No? Then how about some rock climbing at the Dover Indoor Climbing Gym? Consider yourself lucky to live on the seacoast, for we are rife with state-of-the-art facilities to take your mind off the wind, cold, and darkness. All of these activities are wildly successful in the area, which begs the question: why not just go to the gym?

“They don’t even compare in my mind,” says Jason Farias, life-long soccer player and eleven-year seacoast resident. “I don’t think of going to play soccer as a workout, even though it is. You are doing something, not just going through the motions to get some exercise.”

Soccer

Seacoast United Indoor Soccer Arena is a five-field complex a mile from the beach in Hampton on Winnacunnet Rd. Seacoast United Soccer Club (SUSC) is a non-profit club that owns the indoor arena and sponsors 28 club teams ranging from Under 11 to Under 19 age categories. The arena was built from the ground up in 1997, originally as a three-field, 39,000 ft2 structure and expanded in 1999 to include two more fields and round out the complex to 69,000 ft2. I spoke with Ian Burgess, Director of Operations, from the second-floor office suite overlooking the fields. “The whole idea was to bring soccer into the area for everybody from competitive players to people who have never played before.” The model has worked to the extent that the indoor stadium is open and near capacity seven days a week from September thru May and five days a week during the summer. The non-profit club has grown too: they give annual grants to Seacoast area towns to supply balls, uniforms, and other necessities to community youth teams.

For a different take on the same genre, head thirty miles north to York, Maine to the York Sports Center, located on Route 1. Opened thirteen month ago by Sportsplex Management Group, it is a new structure specifically designed to meet the needs of players. While Seacoast United utilizes a traditional indoor surface and numerous small fields with bumper walls, the York complex is 24,000 ft2 dedicated to a solitary field. There are no dasher boards, and with a larger 210’ x 90’ field, there is much more of the feel of an outdoor pitch. This also allows for six field players and a goalie on the field for each team. The surface is state-of-the-art Field Turf ™: the same stuff that is being used in the New England Patriots’ new practice dome and Giants Stadium in Rutherford, NJ. The surface has the look and feel of natural grass, and it is easier on the knees and joint of old guys like me. The pitch is actually an outdoor field surrounded by a dome—there is no concrete layer beneath the complex, and so the field feels softer and more natural underfoot. “The surface is much easier on the shin splints and the knees. You really notice the difference the day after,” said Jay Farias.

Sportsplex Management Group, the owners of the York Sports Club opened the Portland Sports Center (a double-sized version at 51,000 ft2) two weeks ago. “We would like to have a network of these facilities throughout the state of Maine,” says Laurie Barrett, Senior Vice President and Co-Owner of the York Sports Club. Sportsplex Management Group is a distributor for their product. They can provide a turnkey product: build the structure and field, and provide a completely functioning complex that can also be used for a variety of events beyond sports. Their facilities are designed to be diversified: 14’ bay doors can accommodate cars, boats on trailer, or anything that someone would want to display at a show, and the 110’ foot wide clear-span main room at the York facility has already been used for auctions and home & garden shows.

Both Seacoast United and the York Sports Center play host to a plethora of evening adult soccer leagues that range over five seasons, generally eight weeks long each, from September to June: Men’s Open, Over 30 and Over 40, Women’s Open and Over 30, and Coed Open. There is also an adult field hockey league at Seacoast United and a Men’s Flag Football and Ultimate Frisbee league in York. The leagues are in the middle of the second season right now, running through the end of December, with the next season starting right after New Year. Individuals looking for a team to play on can get matched up with an existing team in need of players at either facility by accessing its website (see sidebar).

The style of play is very different between the two facilities. Seacoast United has a capacity to get more players on the fields. The game at Seacoast United is faster and more in the style of hockey: smaller fields, faster turf, and smaller, oval-shaped fields with dasher boards surrounding the circumference all contribute to the speed. Monica Dorley has played in the coed league at Seacoast United for the last five winters. “I really like the speed of the turf and hitting the ball off the walls.” York, with its smaller capacity, has a larger field, more natural-grass-like turf, and a higher ceiling, which contributes to a style of play that is a rough approximation of outdoor soccer.

Rye Airfield

Sixteen years ago I gave up high school soccer and wrestling to concentrate on my skateboarding career, or so I told my dumbfounded, but supportive parents. I was excelling in school and too small to be competitive in traditional sports. At the time I felt that I was part of a generation of kids just realizing that skating was more than a slacker activity: it could be a bonafide sport and endeavor as worthy as playing for the high school football team.

Now, so many years later, I find myself with a reason to check out the Rye Airfield. Wednesday nights are “Old Guy’s Night,” when anyone 30 or over gets $3.00 off the admission fee, and a collection of characters, the likes of which I haven’t seen since the eighties, congregates inside the vast metal structure. Actually, truth be told, the average age at the skate park, even on old guy’s night was still down into the teens, but there were also a handful of old guys holding their own with the youngsters.

Rye Airfield bills itself as “New England’s Premier Skate Park and BMX Track,” and it’s not just a boast. The indoor skate park consists of 50,000 ft2 of every imaginable obstacle I’ve ever dreamed of or seen in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4. There are three concrete pools of varying difficulty, a 64’ wide, 12.5’ high halfpipe, a pro, an intermediate, and a beginner street course, a wooden clover-shaped bowl, and back-to-back mini ramps. There is also a bike-specific corner in the park (not that bikes aren’t allowed almost everywhere in the park). In fact, almost the entire indoor area is accessible to skateboards, inline skates, BMX and mountain bikes. Outside is a 1300 ft. long BMX Super Track. It is the only BMX track in New Hampshire, and it is all downhill. There is also a 25,000 ft2 maintained BMX dirt jumping area—New England’s largest.

Walking into the indoor park, I was immediately in awe. What I wouldn’t have given for even a portion of this when I was in my teens. I was greeted at the door by Beau Lambert, the General Manager, who gave me a tour of the facility and the rundown of the operations. Then he left me alone to inspect the various features of the park. I saw bunches of kids that looked eerily like a younger version of myself, except for the fact that they were fluidly pulling off tricks that I couldn’t have even comprehended at their age: 360 flips and k-grinds to nollie shuv-its on skateboards, tail whips, no-handers and 360 spins on bikes. I talked to one of the riders, Tucker Poindexter, a fifteen year old talking with a bunch of his friends between his turns on the mini-ramp. I asked him why he skates. “If I wasn’t skating, I’d just be…,” he struggled for the right term.

“A poindexter?” I asked hesitantly. His friends all laughed.

“Yeah,” he replied, good-naturedly, “Now I have 50 gazillion friends.” Then showing that he could give it right back to me, he added, “That’s g-a-z-i-l-l-i-o-n.”

When I asked him if he saw himself becoming a pro someday, he gave an emphatic ‘yes’, and then rattled off a list of companies that already sponsor him. Most of his friends all attest to skating there every day. As far as they are concerned, that is what skateboarding or BMX-ing or inline skating is all about: hanging out with friends—it’s a lifestyle. And Beau Lambert realizes this. The entire operation is geared around the kids. Rye Airfield broke ground in August 2001 and opened 17 months ago. The building was custom built for the skate park, and derives its name from the fact that it sits on the airport runway of the land’s former tenant. Beau likes to emphasize education as much as skateboarding. If a kid brings in a straight-A report card, he or she gets a free skate session. If it’s A’s and B’s, a session is half-price. But it doesn’t stop there. If someone is struggling in school, he or she can read books at a number of area libraries and earn credits towards skate sessions. Rye Airfield frequently organizes events and benefits some organization in the process. There have been numerous pro tours and concerts held at the skate park. The next event is a book fair scheduled for December 4-7. The fair should create more interest in reading for the Airfield’s core clientele and should generate hundreds of new books that will then be donated to Families First at the Community Campus in Portsmouth.

After I had spent an hour in the midst of the action I retreated to the second-floor “Parent’s Lounge” with a great view of the entire park. A quiet, comfortable place with free internet access and a separate bathroom, it is just another example of how Rye Airfield has created an extremely well-thought-out facility. There are also several rooms that can be rented for birthday parties or other events, a concession stand, and a weight room in which a personal trainer works with area athletes.

There are Ramp Camps for the under 18 set in the summer and holidays, but lessons are available to any and all that desire them. The skate park is for kids, but that can be 15 year old kids or 35 year old ones. Tony Hawk, at 35, is still one of the best skaters on the planet. And women, though only coming in at 8% of Rye Airfield’s riders, is still an important segment in action sports, and Tuesday nights are Ladies Night, when ladies ride the 6-9 pm session for free.

Dover Indoor Climbing Gym (DICG)

Rock climbing is a sport that lends itself well to the great indoors, and the seacoast is home to the Dover Indoor Climbing Gym in Dover. On Saturday, it played host to the first ever New England Bouldering Championships. When I dropped by last week the staff was busy removing all the holds, painting the walls, and resetting the routes to accommodate the competition climbers. With a $3000+ cash purse and thousands of dollars in gear up for grabs, owner Todd Shaffer was expecting an influx of the best group of climbers to ever grace his gym.

From the outside DICG is an unimposing house with a very high, out-of-place roof. In the front window is a banner that reads “Because It’s Here,” echoing Sir Mallory’s famous quip about mountain climbing. Inside, an entrance room of average height leads into a 35 ft. high cavern of a room. Rock-shaped holds decorate the walls and are marked with a rainbow of different color tape, differentiating various routes of varying difficulty all the way up to and on to the ceiling. Behind the big room is another, lower, bouldering room.

Bouldering is a specific type of climbing in which climbers attempt to climb various routes or “problems.” No ropes are used to secure the climbers if they fall, which they often do, but the emphasis is not on getting to the roof, but rather on figuring out the necessary sequence of hand and foot holds, and various techniques needed to complete a problem. The end point on a bouldering problem is usually only ten feet or so above the ground, and crash pads are placed below to safely break climbers’ falls.
In the competition, bouldering problems were rated on a scale of around 200-1200 points each. Around 100 different problems set up around the gym. It was a two-part event, with an open afternoon comp and an evening invitational final. All throughout the afternoon contestants tried their skills on the walls and totaled their best five completed problems. The higher point value problems were overseen by judges, with the lower point value problems using the honor system. In the case of a tie in overall points, it came down to overall attempts.

Pete Ward is one of the co-organizers of the bouldering competition. He’s been organizing competitions for the past five years. Maybe it was because he had a million other things he should have been doing while I talked to him, but when I asked him what appealed to him about climbing, he didn’t pause for even a moment. “Climbing is one of the most direct ways to interact with the outdoors. You are actually going out and grabbing a piece of it.” About the event that he had organized with Tim Kemple, he said, “it’s definitely the highest-rated contest ever in New England. Hopefully there will be many more.” Hopefully. Unfortunately, there is a pending lawsuit that is threatening to shut down the Dover gym. A petition was circulating throughout the afternoon in support of the gym."

The Dover Indoor Climbing Gym is turning the seacoast into a climbing zone,” said Charles Lodi, an avid climber and a senior on the UNH Programming Team, who was volunteering the team’s time to help run the bouldering contest. “It’s a jumping off point for climbing all over the area.” Indeed, it seems to be the hub for climbing in the region and the glue that holds the climbing community together.

Round Up

If you are interested in any of these activities, it is easy to get involved. Every day new people are playing soccer, field hockey, ultimate Frisbee, flag football, and lacrosse, or they are skating, riding or climbing. Spectating is free and encouraged at all of the venues. But be forewarned: most people can’t remain idle on the sidelines very long.

Other Things to Do

Nothing here suits your liking? Don’t worry; there are plenty of other things to do indoors around the seacoast when the temperature drops. Bowling is popular: big ball at Bowl USA in Newington and Dover Bowl in Dover, or candlepin at Bowl-a-Rama in Portsmouth. Bananas Restaurant in Portsmouth has an air hockey table in the basement, and I guarantee you can get a workout if you ever play me in an impromptu world championship game (a title that I currently hold, at least in my mind). And roller-skating, in either the traditional quad skate form or on inline skates, at Rollerskate Newington is always a good way to burn a few hundred calories. Whatever you do though, do something. Get out and explore the great indoors. If worst comes to worst, you can always break down and go to the gym.