After the Brandeis crew team learned that it wouldn't have a boathouse next year due to the renovation of its current facility, the team feared it would not be able to compete next season. But thanks to a landmark partnership Brandeis recently made with Lasell College in Newton, Mass., the crew team is assured a secure future.The partnership grants the Brandeis crew team full access to Lasell's boathouse on the Charles River. In return, Lasell's newly formed baseball team will practice and play games on Brandeis' Stein Diamond.

For over 20 years, the crew team had used the boathouse of a private company, Community Rowing, Inc. in Newton for its practices and races. The space normally served as an ice-skating rink during the winter and then as a boathouse during the fall and spring when the ice was removed and boat racks were installed. CRI, however, recently decided to build a new boathouse and keep the current one as a year-round ice-skating rink. The crew team would have been forced to take on a down payment of about $1 million, along with an additional yearly fee in order to use the new boathouse and simply couldn't shoulder that financial burden.

"Without this [agreement], we wouldn't have a boathouse to row out of next year," team president Sarah Robinson '08 said. "The new boathouse is a great option for us

and the best alternative to the boathouse we're rowing out of now."

Under the agreement, which had been in the works since Athletics Director Sheryl Sousa contacted Lasell athletics officials last November, each school is responsible for financing renovations of the shared facilities. While Lasell agreed to replace the dock on its boathouse, Brandeis will accommodate the schedules of the two baseball teams by adding lights to the field for night practice and games, Sousa said.

The Department of Athletics will also finance improvements to the field to account for the extra wear and tear next season. All renovations will occur after the current season, Sousa said.

Lasell Athletic Director Kristy Walter said that Brandeis' decision to renovate the Stein Diamond was instrumental in helping the two sides reach an agreement.

"My initial reaction [to a partnership] was that we were not sure if [Brandeis and Lasell] could do anything, but then we decided we each had something we wanted," she said. "After Sousa said [Brandeis] would add lights and a turf [to the baseball field], we thought we could work something out."

Though it's common for universities to share field space for teams that play the same sport, Brandeis' partnership with Lasell is unique because it involves teams from two different sports, Sousa said.

As Lasell doesn't currently have a crew team, the Brandeis team has exclusive access to the boathouse. But the two baseball teams will have to share Brandeis' field, and schedules may conflict, Sousa said.

"Our baseball program has priority to the facility, so it's our practice schedule and game schedule [that come] first, but I could imagine that there might be some challenge with scheduling, so there will need to be some patience on both sides," Sousa said.

Despite the potential conflicts, baseball player Drew Brzozowski '10 said he is not too concerned.

"I'm very excited about it," he said. "The lights will be really nice and in two years the turf will be a nice addition to the field as well. I think the [Department of Athletics] will make the schedules pretty fair so that we'll each get our chances to play."

And despite her satisfaction with the recent agreement, Robinson expressed frustration over how Athletics handled the negotiations with Lasell.

"We didn't know what was being done or how it was being handled," Robinson said. "We were kept out of the loop, and a lot of people were frustrated with that."

Sousa, however, pointed out that Athletics has no obligation to support a nonvarsity team and coordinate such a partnership, since the recently passed club sports agreement hasn't yet gone into effect. Under the agreement reached earlier this semester with the Student Union, Athletics will share the responsibility for funding competitive club sports with the Union. The new system will begin next fall.

"Something like this takes time [and] these things don't happen overnight," Sousa said of the Lasell negotiations. "We weren't obligated to help them, but we really wanted to.