After a yearlong wait, Jesuit’s much hyped athletic facility was finished and finally opened to Ranger athletes in mid-October 2011. And of course, as the opening day came closer and closer, excitement and speculation permeated the “water- cooler” talk of students and faculty alike.
Despite Jesuit’s success in athletics over the recent years, including championships in rugby, soccer, cycling, and crew, the consensus among the Jesuit community was that the prior athletic facility did not accurately reflect the success of Jesuit sports nor come to par with the rest of Jesuit’s campus.
In my own experience with the old building, I felt like the locker rooms were unaccommodating. When I played rugby last year, I often found myself changing into my athletic gear amidst 10 other guys in a cramped, five-by-five area. The lockers themselves were dilapidated and sometimes didn’t even close. Teammate Will Cravens ’13, echoed my opinion, saying, “It was a pain to change in the crowded locker rooms…it was really hectic.”
Additionally, although the space that Jesuit rugby changed in was technically “ours,” no one could tell. No sign denoted the space as rugby’s, and athletes from different sports would change in this locker room if their own was too crowded. The fencing team had no locker room and was forced to change in the middle of the Terry Center, something junior Kells Koch found “really annoying.”
The new lockers are pristine, and, naturally, students like Alec Sellick ’13, were “excited for more space, more room, and more lockers!” And on a funny note, soccer and football player Jeff Fulcher ’13 noted that “during football season [in the old facilities] I didn’t even have a locker!”
Jesuit athletes are not the only beneficiaries of the new, impressive facility. The coaches too are loving the over 2,500 feet in office space, as well as the conference room on the third floor, which has a magnificent, panoramic view of the football field and that soccer coach Charlie DeLong simply called “fantastic.”
Tennis coach and junior guidance counselor Paul McDaniel “praised the new athletic facility for promoting a sense of identity among each individual team. In the eyes of McDaniel, these improvements will make Jesuit a “first-class facility.” This opinion seemed to be unanimous among the coaching staff. Head soccer coach Charlie DeLong also commented that the new locker rooms were “very good” because each sport had “its own locker room.” DeLong
mentioned that his daily routine was greatly improved by the “wonderful facility.”
When I checked out the athletic facility through the giant, downstairs hall, which connects with the Hall of Honors, I noted that the facility still had that “new-multimillion-dollar-building smell.” Nearly everything, including the windows, floors, and brick, sparkled. One of the immediate comparisons I drew to the new building was its similarity to the Terry Center, both having the same dark brown floors and exterior design. Athletic Director Steve Koch told me this was “completely intentional” because he wanted to “create uniformity between the two buildings.”
It was also this concern for uniformity that prompted including smart-boards in the facility to help the coaches with their game plans, because “the rest of the school was using them, so we wanted to incorporate them in the new facility as well.” Additionally, Koch told me that there were “virtually no problems with the facility and design” and that he had “been getting a very good response from all of the coaches about the facility.” Principal Tom Garrison concurred, saying that the weight room “is going to be very nice, overlooking the football field.” Koch also noted that because strength and conditioning coach Jeremy Weeks “is all into the newest, scientifically proven training” the weight room will include some state-of the-art equipment.
As any of my close friends know, I can be a big critic at times, but on the athletic facility, I think Jesuit nailed it. Everything reached or surpassed my expectations, and I applaud the construction crew who worked on the building so diligently, and the timely-manner in which they completed the building, as well as any administration and others who played a part in planning and orchestrating the whole effort.
