Team Terry on Tour – The Treasures of Frederick County

Perhaps you entered Frederick County to check out Civil War battle sites, but you will quickly find an abundance of sports culture. Frederick has everything to offer from outdoor BMX skate parks to indoor hockey and ice skating, and plenty of soccer and baseball in between.

The first venue we visited on our trip was the Frederick Indoor Sports Center. The FISC had a lot of potential under its previous ownership, but it has really taken a huge leap in the past year with new owners Jay Jeffrey and Tony Checchia. Jay and Tony were long time players at the FISC and dreamed of the ultimate indoor sports complex.

Currently they house Soccer, Lacrosse, and Flag football teams, as well as recreational play on their two full sized turf fields but they are hoping to expand their facility towards dodge ball, field hockey, kickball, and competitive running in the near future. We even got wind of the quirky; although very athletic LFL (Lingerie Football League) using the facility for their team training camp.

After upgrading the two turfs Jay and Tony added a sports lounge. You no longer have to wait in a stinky locker room for your teams turn at the pitch; you can have a full meal with a sideline view! The lounge will get a lot of action come June, as they are hosting viewing parties for all of the games in the World Cup!

Just a stones throw away from the FISC we landed ourselves at Skate Frederick, an indoor ice arena. As with many of us, Frederick was not able to avoid Mother Nature and her evil snow storms this past winter and Skate Frederick fell victim to her as well. After clearing one of their sheets of ice for a bit of spring cleaning they noticed a pipe burst under the ice.

Although they are down one rink it didn’t look to be slowing them down whatsoever, as one of the few facilities in the region that is open 365 days a year, patrons just learned to share the ice a little. The second sheet is on track to be laid within the next month, and the facility will be back up to its former glory in no time.

From there we made our way into the City of Frederick, where we met up with Roelkey Myers, the Director of Frederick City Parks and Rec. It is so apparent the role that history plays in the town of Frederick when we entered the Frederick Sports Hall of Fame; there are pictures and autographed sports equipment dating back to the 1800’s.

We then made our way to McCurdy field, a beautiful stadium used by the Babe Ruth Little League.

The next stop was very exciting because neither Marketeer had been to a full scale skate park before. The Hillstreet Skate Park is a very large venue with multiple bowls, rails, banks and ledges, each at various degrees of difficulty. The scariest being the clover shaped bowl with a straight 13 foot drop down.


You can’t talk sports in Frederick without going to see a Frederick Keys baseball game in Harry Grove Stadium! Thanks to Dave Ziedelis, the General Manager for the Keys, we had the best seat in the house. It turned out to be a perfect day for baseball. Unfortunately the Keys were not blessed with the same luck. They had a bit of a rough start, and although they rallied in the fourth to come back from a 6-0 start the Nationals took the win. It seemed like a recurring theme with the Nat’s and O’s last week.

Our last stop on the tour was the Athletic Department at Mount St. Mary’s University. With the grotto of the Gods starring down the hill at them it is no wonder that the Athletic Department has had so much success. It doesn’t hurt to have top notch facilities.

The first being the Olympic sized training pool. In the same building there is the beautiful Knott Arena, where the stands are as pretty as the court; everything is touched in a warm, inviting hardwood. Going out the back side of the Knott Athletic Complex is the most beautiful view. To paint a picture for you, we were standing atop a set of stairs staring down a single lane road that looks like its driving off into the sunset. On either side of the road are baseball and softball fields. Slightly off to the left is a competition sized track and field facility. Due to the flat, wide open plane the throwing and jumping events are susceptible to winds. So in an effort to prevent delays they added an extra running lane so they could change directions with the wind.

The most notable field is the Waldron Family Field which houses the Mounts Men’s and Woman’s Soccer and Lacrosse teams. The field glows it is so perfectly green and the stands are pretty enough to rival any pro stadium. It is no wonder that Assistant Athletic Director Mike Hardisky travels over an hour to work everyday. It must be worth it to arrive at such a thriving and absolutely breathtaking sports complex.