After hosting the inaugural Stanford Invitational at Stanford Softball Stadium from Feb. 5-8, Stanford Athletics released a statement saying that holding the tournament had been a decision “made in error.”

The University failed to obtain a temporary occupancy permit from Santa Clara County before hosting the Stanford Invitational at the brand-new $50 million Stanford Softball Stadium. “Finishing work” still had to be done at the Stadium to obtain the permit. As a result, the Cardinal Classic I tournament, planned to be hosted at Stanford the following weekend, was instead hosted at various Bay Area stadiums.

This change resulted in Cal Poly — who was scheduled to compete in the tournament — dropping out due to “renovation and permit delays” at Stanford Softball Stadium.

A Stanford softball player, who requested anonymity, spoke to The Daily regarding the effect of the Stadium issues behind-the-scenes.

“I think my team is really good at staying resilient and still having the same character no matter where we play,” she said.

Stanford softball was still successful when competing in less-than-ideal circumstances, going 3-1 in the Cardinal Classic I tournament, in which they played at West Valley College and San Jose State University’s stadiums.

Following the Stanford Invitational, the DeMarini Invitational tournament was scheduled for Feb. 19-22. The issues with Stanford Softball Stadium had not been resolved by Feb. 19, so Stanford Athletics moved the game, originally supposed to be played against Arizona, to West Valley College. However, the game was ultimately canceled due to “sundown,” as West Valley College did not have the proper lighting to support an evening game.

Stanford’s game against Arizona was rescheduled for Saturday morning.

The Cardinal were able to return to their home Stadium on Feb. 20, playing a game against Texas. In returning to the stadium, there was a mix of confusion and excitement.

“I would say the coaches probably had a lot more information than the players did,” the player said. “I don’t really understand what was happening, but whatever was not allowing us to play there, it got lifted, or it got solved, and we were able to play on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, and it was awesome.”

The University and coaching staff left the athletes somewhat in the dark regarding the specifics of the adverse situation.

“As everything was unfolding, the coaches let us know what changes needed to be made. That included practice times and where we were practicing, and then games and where we were playing games,” the player said. “We had to practice in some different areas on campus, which was kind of strange.”

The team practiced primarily at the batting cages on campus. Despite the adversity, Stanford softball is proud of their resilience and the University’s ability to get things back up and running.

“I think the staff did a really good job of handling it as the situation unfolded because there wasn’t really anything we could do,” she said.

Stanford softball is not expecting to have any more issues regarding the brand-new stadium. The Cardinal travel to Louisville this weekend, but will be back at Stanford Softball Stadium March 6-8 for a series against Pitt.

“I’m really grateful that we’re back” the player said.