Alejandro Merlan

4/10/14
Van Male Feature
Keywords: weight room, athlete, facility, focus, performance

A Transition to a better facility:

Much needed renovations will be made to the Van Male facility this summer of 2014. Van Male
is Carroll Universitys primary athletic facility. It was built in 1965 and the last major renovation took
place 13 years ago in 2001.
The majority of the renovations will occur on the main level of Van Male and west side of the
gymnasium. This is the Barstow entrance where the location of which is where all the locker rooms,
showers, athletic training facility and athletic offices are located.
The Barstow entrance will be enlarged since the current entrance now is a two-door entrance with a
lounge that can hold less than twenty people. Compared to other entrances of colleges in the Midwest
Conference it becomes apparent that it lacks trophy cases and space. Depending on the quality of both of
these things can attract or detract potential students.
A new and larger classroom is part of the renovation plans. The current classroom sits behind the athletic
training facility; and is used for multiple classes for Athletic Training, Exercise Science, and Physical
Therapy. Seeing as these majors take a large portion of the current student population, it is important that
the University is able to provide the best facility possible in order to be competitive with other programs.
The Locker rooms for both mens and womens facilities will receive renovations that include new
showers and restroom facilities. According to Alexander Olson, President of the Student Athletic
Advisory Committee, Carroll Universitys locker rooms were ranked the worst and least liked facilities in
the Midwest Conference. The MWC is the conference to which Carroll is a part of and includes colleges
from Illinois, Wisconsin as well as Iowa.
The current Athletic Training area will also be enlarged. As Carroll just added Lacrosse as another sport
students are able to participate in, it becomes necessary that the University ensures that it can provide care
for these athletes.

Another addition will be upgrades in air handling and ventilation be addressed in the project.
Overheating in the facility is very common as complaints are made from swimmers in the natatorium,
those working out in the weight room, as well as many people playing in the basketball arena.
The offices and storage areas will be relocated and developed which includes some construction on the
second floor; which will provide more room for all members of the athletic staff.
We realize that during the actual construction we will all be somewhat displaced, however as we look
into the future this project will be a big recruiting and retention piece of Carrolls future. Says Shawn
Thielitz, Carroll Universitys Athletic Facility manager.
The worst rated facility. That is where Van Male stands among the facilities in the Midwest Conference,
which is problematic for the largest school in the conference.
Comparing weight rooms between facilities and the Van Male weight room is not in the same standards.
The Van Male facility is more comparable to a high school weight room, including local ones in
Waukesha that are in greater size and in better quality. The Van Male weight room is 2,000 square feet
with Grinnells weight room is four times as large being 8,000 square feet.
Van Male was built in 1965 with the last major renovation being in 2001. Across the Midwest conference
other athletic facilities have had many more recent renovations in younger facilities such as. St. Norberts
athletic facility that was built in 1978. Monmouth built a brand new facility in 2003 and even Beloit, a
college that was founded in almost the same time as Carroll has plans for major renovations. Beloit has
plans for building a brand new facility set to be open in 2017.
Corrissa Meyers, Junior Track and Field athlete explains why these renovations are important. I feel like
it would give us athletes more of a sense of school pride. Sometimes we are embarrassed for other teams
to come here and use our locker rooms and to have a nice looking place makes us feel good about being a
part of that image.
I think they will allow our sports teams to get ready for their events better than what we have now. They
will give us a better sense of pride for our school and facilities. Says Carolyn Kovanic, Sophomore
swimmer.

The Locker rooms within a facility are important. The locker room is where one goes to change. When
changing, athletes and coaches, or anyone exercising use that time to transition from thinking about their
daily lives to focusing on working out or competing. Having a facility that has lights going out, a molding
ceiling, rusty lockers and broken bathroom stalls can take that focus away. Instead of athletes focusing on
the upcoming task, the users of the facility are distracted by these elements.
Focus and mentally are an important aspect of athletics. Not being focused during a competition is the
difference between making a catch, being in position to make a play or being conditionally ready to
participate. With the wrong focus and being distracted athletes are more likely to become injured.
Having athletes injured because of the facilities, isnt something Carroll University or any institution
wants. The stance that the Athletic department takes is that they want to provide an environment where
they can prevent as many injuries as possible.

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http://athletics.carrollu.edu/sports/2012/6/4/Facilities.aspx?
http://www.snc.edu/athletics/facilities/schuldes.html
http://pioneers.grinnell.edu/sports/2012/4/16/Facilities_0416122606.aspx?id=74
http://www.monmouthscots.com/sports/2012/5/8/MSWIM_0508125924.aspx?id=3
http://www.beloit.edu/bucs/reccenter/