A regular column by Athletic Director Bill Husak.
August 2002
Athletics Director's Update
The summer has past too quickly and now we are focused on the promise of new student-athletes arriving and blending together with returning Lions as our teams prepare to represent LMU in the athletic arena. The summer has been busy. Coaches have spent a good part of the summer recruiting and conducting camps and clinics on the LMU campus and across the country. The administration and support staff has been busy planning and implementing those plans while continuing to provide and improve the services that are essential for creating a winning environment. I would like to highlight a few of the accomplishments this summer.
Facilities have continued to be at the forefront of our efforts. Fans entering Gersten Pavilion will see new lighting throughout - a lighting system that has more than doubled the brightness throughout the facility while reducing the energy requirements to illuminate the building - and new paint on the ceiling of the gym and in the restrooms. The old plastic covers used to block daylight in the gym have been replaced by window tinting that diffuses the sun's rays during the day. The goal was to brighten the building and make it more inviting; we believe that has been accomplished. In addition, new banners have been hung in the atrium, which invite people into the athletic complex and Gersten Pavilion.
Our exterior facility improvements include the addition of a new sound system at the pool and banners, which highlight the accomplishments of our two championship water polo teams. This facility will host the NCAA Final Four for Men's Water Polo in December and our goal is to make the experience a special one for athletes and fans. We also signed a four-year agreement with the Rose Bowl to serve as the practice site for one of the teams participating in the bowl game. The relationship with the Rose Bowl includes re-sodding Sullivan Field at the conclusion of the soccer season. This facility already has one of the best playing surfaces in southern California, and with this improvement, it may very well become the best surface on which our soccer athletes will compete anywhere.
To conclude this discussion about facilities, I can not leave out our plans for construction. We need to drastically improve our locker room, training and office situation and that can only be done by the construction of a new building behind Gersten. Plans and a scaled model have been completed over the summer, and it is critical for this building to become a reality as soon as possible. It is the first phase of a three phase plan to make LMU's athletic complex favorably comparable with others in the WCC. We will need the support of all in order to make this building a reality.
Two other areas have been positive highlights of the summer. Our camp program has flourished. Two years ago our summer camp program serviced approximately 600 children from the surrounding communities. This year that number will reach over 1,400. Our portion of southern California is beginning to realize what an asset LMU and its athletics program is and the quality of instruction our staff gives. We hope to see these campers, their parents, friends and neighbors at our contests this year; hopefully they will become full-blooded Lions fans.
Finally, for the first time ever, we had a four-week fund drive for LionsFund membership. Twenty volunteers, the vast majority of whom had never been involved in LionsFund activities, helped raise over $60,000 in cash and pledges. This first time effort was indeed monumental. For those of you reading this column, don't wait for someone to contact you to become a LionsFund member. Click on the LionsFund portion of this web site and join now. You provide the margin for quality in our program and the goals of our student-athletes can not be attained without your support.
So the summer is over and before the rest of the students return our men's and women's soccer teams, men's and women's cross country, women's volleyball and men's water polo will be on campus early preparing for their first competitions later this month. Check our schedule of competitions for dates/times and come out to root your Lions onto victory. You will see young men and women giving their all in representing LMU. As always, thank you for all of your support of LMU athletics and?
Go Lions!
Bill Husak, AD
