IT WASN’T DEHYRDRATION THAT DEFEATED U OF O, BUT IT CERTAINLY DIDN’T HELP
It was a perfect fall Sunday, 27 degrees, sunny, and the stands at TD Place packed for one of the University of Ottawa’s biggest traditions. But as the afternoon went on, the excitement started giving way to the reality of the heat. By halftime, water was suddenly the most valuable thing in the stadium.
By halftime, attention was split between the field and the frustration of where all the bottled water had gone. Bottled water vanished from the stands, and every single vending machine was out of service.
Inside the concourse, people were wandering between booths or looking for carts, hoping one still had a few bottles left. When staff were seen rolling large cases of water on carts, students asked if they could buy one or where they were going, but didn’t get an answer. By the time the third quarter started, many students resorted to sodas or anything cold they could find.
There were no signs or announcements that stands had run out of water throughout the game. Many waited in long lines, some over half an hour, only to find out at the counter that bottled water was unavailable. The lack of communication added to the frustration; in the heat, students spent time and energy waiting for something that wasn’t there.
In a statement to the Fulcrum, TD Place said the venue did not run out of bottled water during the game. While some stands “may have temporarily run low,” they were replenished throughout the afternoon. Nearly 12,000 bottles were stocked for the weekend, over 8,000 were sold, and first aid teams distributed about 1,200 more for free.
The venue also pointed to its refillable water stations and noted that vending machines are managed by an external provider, which according to TD Place, can malfunction if tampered with. The explanation sounds reasonable, but the timing still felt oddly convenient.
Planning for student safety often focuses on alcohol consumption and crowd control, both important, but water access rarely makes headlines. Yet with temperatures staying warmer well into fall, maybe water should have been taken more seriously.
If there’s one takeaway from this year’s game, it’s that school spirit, sunshine, and a sold-out crowd make for a great day, but next year, a little more water wouldn’t hurt. Maybe it was fitting that the Gee-Gees ran out of momentum right around the time the rest of us ran out of water. It just wasn’t our day.
