Xavier Magazine: Fall 2015

Maroon and BLUE

On any given school day, up to six Xavier buses are parked on 16th Street, waiting to transport student-athletes to points across New York City, Westchester, and even New Jersey. Since the days of the Kaydets to the modern Knights, Xavier sports have always involved the added challenge of daily travel. Here’s a look at where Xavier teams practice and compete today.

Red Hook Park, Brooklyn

New York City: Xavier’s Playground

East River Park, Lower East Side Many Xavier alumni recall their playing days in East River Park.

“It was rocks and dirt,” recalled head football coach Chris Stevens ’83, who played freshman football games on the field near East Houston Street. “After any play, you would literally walk away in a cloud of dust.” The 57-acre park, conceived by Robert Moses in the 1930s, underwent extensive renovations over the years and now boasts a revitalized waterfront promenade and synthetic turf playing fields. Demand for the space has grown, but the Lower East Side park is still used by Xavier soccer, rugby, and track teams.

football teams in the same place,” he said.

The arrangement lasted until 2006. Today, freshman football players still travel to Red Hook for every practice.

During the pre-season, all three teams use the field. “We still consider Red Hook our home base,” Coach Stevens said, noting that varsity practice rotates between three to four different locations each week.

The situation is far from ideal; time spent traveling could add one full team practice a week. “But it’s also an extra hour the kids spend with each other,” Coach Stevens acknowledged. “It builds camaraderie. It’s a lesson in adapting and surviving.”

“After any play, you would literally walk away in a cloud of dust.”

Jack Coffey Field, Fordham University, The Bronx Before Knights fans enter Jack Coffey Field at Fordham University for the annual Turkey Bowl against Fordham Prep, they pass a monument that contains a piece of Xavier history: the Seven Blocks of Granite. Leo Paquin, Xavier’s legendary football coach, athletic director, and teacher, was a lineman on the famed 1936–37 Rams team alongside his roommate, Vince Lombardi. “I always tell our players, ‘You have as much a

Red Hook Park, Brooklyn By the time Coach Stevens became a position coach for the varsity football team in 1989, team practices had moved to Red Hook Park, Brooklyn. “It was a nice set-up, because we could have all three 24 XAVIER MAGAZINE