MELBOURNE, Fla. (Football) – Florida Tech will hold its inaugural practice and step foot on the new Panther Field for the first time on Sunday at 5:30 p.m.

With the Panthers not competing officially until fall 2013 as a football-only member of the Gulf South Conference, head coach Steve Englehart has organized this fall as if the team is preparing to play opponents. Starting on Sunday, FIT will follow a strict schedule, which includes practices, intrasquad scrimmages, meetings, work out times and study halls.

About 120 student-athletes will practice for the first time on Sunday in helmets only. Four days later, they will suit up for the first time in full pads.

Adjacent to Panther Field is the Varsity Training Center, a new facility that is under construction. Since the training center is being worked on and the area surrounding it remains an active construction site, practices will be closed to the public until further notice.

However, practice updates will be posted to FloridaTechSports.com.