I showed up to a North Carolina Tar Heels women’s soccer game at Fetzer Field with a cheap camera to try and make some action photos. As a then freshmen at UNC, I didn’t know much about photography, but I had seen action photos by other photographers and seemed enthralled by the idea of sports photography. I developed the photos from the game and they were ... horrible.
Thankfully in time I improved and by my junior and senior year Dave Lohse, a sports information director at UNC, gave me my first start as a sports photographer, something I remain thankful for to this day. In my four years of undergrad, I also spent many nights with my friend Karena Cason peregrinating the track under the lights, talking about life and working off the stress of school.
Many memories of both my undergrad days and the start of my sports photography career are inexorably tied to Fetzer Field. So, I was sad to learn that it and the surrounding Irwin Belk track would be demolished. The renovation happens tomorrow leaving today one last chance to take in Fetzer Field and the track before the new facilities are installed.
So I grabbed my camera to snap a few final photos of Fetzer Field and Irwin Belk track. In 2018 the renovation will be done; the track will be gone (moved off campus) but soccer and lacrosse fans will enjoy a vastly improved venue.
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