Winter is the season for sports such as basketball, hockey, skiing; it’s certainly not a time for fall and spring sports. Or is it? As a result of two indoor artificial turfs in Western Massachusetts, and a few other locations in northern Connecticut, athletes are now able to play their usual outdoor sports during the winter, when outdoor fields are far from being in playable condition.

Soccer City, located on Boston Road in Wilbraham, has standard size lacrosse and soccer fields available for games and practice. Indoor Action Sports Dome, located in Greenfield, Massachusetts also has fields for soccer and lacrosse, but in addition they have field hockey, baseball, and softball fields as well.

The Indoor Action Dome is one of the few local places in the area to offer indoor field hockey tournaments, leagues, clinics, and open nights. The high school’s field hockey team has taken part in leagues and tournaments over the past years and has benefited greatly from getting the ability to practice in the off-season.

“It’s great because I get exposed to different people and coaches that I would never meet if not for indoor field hockey,” said varsity player Paige Kelly, a junior at the high school. “I improve most in the off-season thanks to indoor and that’s something most girls playing field hockey probably can’t say.” The tournament is a great opportunity for the field hockey team to refresh their skills in the off-season as well as keep up team morale.

Soccer City features a team for everyone, with youth leagues for ages 6-19, as well as adult leagues for men, women, and co-ed teams. There are also clinics and training programs offered for people of all ages and skill levels. Many students from the high school participate in leagues at Soccer City, for fun, or to improve their game.

Not only are there indoor playing fields available for athletes, there is also an indoor track located in Northampton at Smith College. The meets held here benefit track teams by preparing the competitors for spring season track.

“Times are slower in indoor track, but the meets are more beneficial in some ways, because while they are scored as a dual meet, you’re racing everyone in the league every week, as opposed to outdoor, when league meets only consist of two teams,” said senior indoor/outdoor track captain Emily Kline. “There are also more opportunities to race in statewide competitions, like when we go to the Reggie Lewis center [in Boston] we’re competing against the best in the state, and there are fewer opportunities to do that during outdoor,” said Kline. Most indoor track athletes go on to participate in the spring season and have found it much easier to make the transition to outdoor because they are so well prepared.

The girls’ lacrosse team at the high school participates in the indoor version of their sport at Sports World, located in Windsor, Connecticut. The girls’ team plays in one of the leagues at Sports World.

“We invited the returning varsity players and some non-varsity players so they have a chance to practice with us,” said senior varsity player Kayla Sibilia. She also said that the main purpose of the indoor season is to practice skills that players might need to improve before the outdoor season. For example, “if you aren’t strong on your non-dominant hand then you would practice that during indoor lacrosse so you can perfect it,” said Sibilia.

Thanks to indoor sports facilities throughout the area, available to many of the high school’s sports teams, athletes are entering their seasons prepared and improved from the previous season with new skills and confidence.