South Carolina athletic department officials want new football practice fields planned for the rear portion of the refurbished Farmer's Market site to be ready in time for the start of preseason camp in August 2014.

Costs for the new fields have not been finalized, but they are expected to be about $3 million.

Athletic director Ray Tanner told the Board of Trustees last week that USC hopes to nail down the cost estimates for the new practice fields and the planned indoor practice facility by next June, at the latest.

Tanner made his first presentation to the Board since being promoted to athletic director in July.

"Every day is really exciting," Tanner said. "I'm in my rookie year and there's a lot of excitement about being a rookie. I'm certainly doing the best I can to represent our department. Hopefully my first presentation went well. I think we have a great plan going forward. Our long-range plan is outstanding. Things are in place now, but we have to continue to develop and continue to provide our athletes with a chance to compete at the highest level.

"That sounds like a generic statement, but not for me. It's real. I've been on that side. I've been a student-athlete, I've coached with inferior facilities and I've coached with the best facilities. It's not a formula that the best facilities will win you championships, but it's the process to give you the best opportunity to compete at the highest level."

Both projects have received Phase I approval from the Board of Trustees and the necessary governmental agencies such as the powerful State Budget and Control Board.

A local civil engineering firm and a national sports architecture firm have been retained to draw up the design plans for the practice fields. Once those plans are handed over to the school and the final cost figures are known, athletic department officials should quickly seek Phase II approval from the Board and government agencies.

Concerns about the location of the new fields and their considerable distance from the locker room at Williams-Brice Stadium were raised by the Board, however. As a result, the school is looking at implementing a shuttle system to help the players cross Bluff Road safely and get to the fields quickly.

"We're talking with football about that now," chief operating officer Kevin O'Connell told the Board. "It's one of the concerns they do have. We'll have both the indoor facility and the practice fields back there. One of the subjects we've talked about is actually transporting them over there. Whether they're walking or it's by some other means, we're having those discussions now."

Tanner said the athletic department is looking at establishing a shuttle service for the players to get them from the stadium to the practice fields quickly.

"We'll probably have some type of shuttle system," Tanner said. "It's not that far, but on certain days it will be too far to walk. We'll have a shuttle system to get them to the fieldhouse when the weather is inclement. That will not be a major issue."

The school is continuing efforts to raise the funds privately to build an indoor practice facility, which is supposed to be situated in the southwest corner of the Farmer's Market site across the street from the Proving Grounds.

Athletic department officials have conducted two lengthy meetings with representatives from the football program to lay out the plans for the indoor facility. School officials will continue to visit other schools and secure ideas for the facility.

The design and total cost of the indoor facility (expected to be between $14-15 million) should be known within the next several months.

However, athletic department officials want the indoor facility fully funded before they pursue Phase II approval. At this time, they are still in fundraising mode. They hope the increased revenues from potential new lucrative deals between the SEC and its TV partners (CBS and ESPN) will help pay for the facility.

Because a number of hurdles remain to be cleared, the new indoor facility is not expected to be ready until 2015, at the earliest.

The new $8 million softball stadium is about 20 percent complete. Whether it's finished in time for the March 13 home-opener remains to be seen. The Gamecocks will play their first two non-conference weekend series on the road as the finishing touches are hopefully applied the new facility.

"It will be a beautiful complex," Tanner told the Board. "(Builders) were slowed a little bit by rain, but they're moving rapidly at this point.

"I hope (it doesn't go down to the wire) and we're going to be OK, but anytime you're dealing with facilities, you're always cutting it close. But we hope we'll be up and running by early March."

Beckham Field was totally demolished and a new stadium with superior amenities for players, fans and media will be constructed on the same spot.

Significant renovations to the men's and women's locker rooms at Colonial Life Arena were completed in the spring, Tanner said. Dodie Anderson, the main benefactor for the much-acclaimed academic support building, donated the entire $1 million amount to cover the cost of the renovations.

Tanner recognizes the challenge is to keep moving forward with new facilities without driving the USC athletic department deeper into debt.

"There are other sports that we need to make improvements in," Tanner said. "There are a lot of facilities that still need to be built. Fundraising is a challenge. Our debt service is pretty high right now. But we have to continue to try to raise funds to build more facilities."

In order to secure those funds, Tanner said he has focused primarily on fundraising in his first two months on the job.

"Having a great senior staff in place has been a tremendous asset for me, so it has given me an opportunity to get out on the road and fund-raise," Tanner said. "I've always been a recruiter. It's very natural for me and I've enjoyed it very much. We've had some really good visits and opportunities. It's part of the process. It is like recruiting. I enjoy meeting people and going to different places."

Largely due to the upgrades in facilities, USC has experienced unparalleled success across the board in athletics over the past few years. Nobody knows that better than Tanner, now in his 17th fall as a USC employee.

"Our landscape has changed. We're enjoying a time at the university where our brand is better than it's ever been, our confidence is higher than it's ever been and our teams are more successful than they ever have been," Tanner said. "That's part of the process. You have to make the investment to stay where you are and continue to drive forward."