LSU softball coach Yvette Girouard knows firsthand that facilities have a huge impact in setting a collegiate sport apart from fellow schools.
Girouard, whose Lady Tigers were the beneficiaries of a new Tiger Park in February 2009, said the newly unveiled basketball practice facility is a great step in developing LSU athletic facilities, but she added that progress is left to be made in other sports on campus.
“There are a lot of schools that have had these facilities for years, so we’ve been behind the eight ball,” Girouard said. “But I love to see what they’ve done. I’m all about facilities.”
Eddie Nunez, senior associate athletic director for internal affairs and development, said the Athletic Department has a vision for enhancements to other facilities for student-athletes.
“We want to renovate all our facilities and take them to the next level,” Nunez said.
One priority, Nunez said, is an indoor tennis facility. LSU women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis and men’s tennis coach Jeff Brown agree it puts the tennis teams at disadvantages when they travel to play in opposing indoor facilities at Southeastern Conference schools.
Minnis said the Lady Tigers lost 53 of their 144 permitted days of practice last season because of inclement weather, and they had to pass on hosting the 2010-11 SEC Tournament because of the team’s inadequate facilities.
Brown said plans to build an indoor facility have “momentum” this year, and talks have been for the facility to be built off campus near the University Club.
“To attract the best recruits, you want to have the best facility possible,” Brown said.
For the LSU gymnastics team, getting a practice facility of its own is critical for the safety and development of the gymnasts, coach D-D Breaux said.
The team has advanced to two Super Sixes in the past three seasons while practicing in the Carl Maddox Field House, which Breaux described as “too small” and “extremely antiquated.”
“We’re one of the best in the nation, and we’ve done it with a dog and pony show, smoke and mirrors,” Breaux said. “What they’ve done with football, baseball and basketball, it’s time to do it with gymnastics.”
That safety and space deficiency will change, Nunez said, to put the gymnastics team on par with other SEC teams.
Renderings and a committee for a new gymnastics facility have been put together, and the team is working to raise $8 million to build a gym in the parking lot area between the PMAC and W.T. “Dub” Robinson Tennis Stadium.
“It would mean that we could train our kids like they should be trained,” Breaux said.
The LSU track and field teams also practice in the Carl Maddox Field House, as well as the outdoor Bernie Moore Stadium. Renovations for the outdoor track began in July and are projected to be complete by January.
The structural issues of the Field House track make it impossible for LSU to host many meets because results do not count toward NCAA championship berths if competitions are not on a banked track, which LSU does not have.
“There are cracks in the concrete slab, which is below the rubber … so it’s starting to crack and sink,” LSU track and field coach Dennis Shaver said. “We have to travel more than we certainly would like to travel.”
Shaver said there have been conversations for the men’s and women’s teams to gain access to the gymnastics practice area once the gymnastics team gets a new facility.
“They’re utilizing a big part of the facility that I think would greatly benefit us in creating athlete flow both indoors and outdoors,” Shaver said. “We don’t have a place to even meet our entire group together in our own facilities.”
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Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]