By Allison Hernandez, Staff Writer
Newman University athletics is beginning to see changes to its facilities, with a newly renovated basketball court completed this summer and additional improvements to outdoor fields underway.
The upgrades are part of a larger plan to improve the experience for Newman student athletes while also strengthening the university’s recruiting efforts, said Director of Athletics Kenyon Spears.
The basketball court in Fugate Gymnasium underwent a major renovation this summer. Spears said the court had not received that level of work in more than a decade.
“This was a major project that, from my understanding, hasn't really been done since either 2012 or 2014,” Spears said.
Instead of completing the typical summer maintenance of removing the top layer of wax and applying a new coat, Newman invested in redoing the entire court and adding the university’s current athletic logo.
The gym serves multiple Newman athletic programs, including men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and wrestling. It is also used for rentals, making the facility a source of revenue for the university.
Spears said the project was part of a larger effort to make improvements throughout the athletic department.
“It is a little bit at a time trying to get better,” Spears said.
While the basketball court has been completed, larger projects still remain. Newman's $3 million athletic facility campaign had, as of April, raised $55,000, delaying planned field upgrades. At that time, Newman’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement Bob Beumer told The Vantage that the university had decided to improve one field at a time as funding became available.
Spears said that Newman did recently receive several rolls of turf through a relationship with people involved in projects around the Wichita area. The turf is not intended to cover the fields entirely but could be used in smaller areas such as bullpens and dugouts.
“We are going to be looking to do a bullpen in certain areas to enhance the experience for our student athletes but also make our facilities have a little bit of an upgrade,” Spears said.
A full turf project for the outdoor fields would require significantly more funding. Spears said the university is currently working with alumni, donors and community partners to raise money.
“A big check,” Spears said, “A big check would help.”
Spears said fundraising for projects of that size is a long term process that depends on developing relationships with potential donors and helping them understand the importance of the project.
“When you're cultivating donors or boosters or just businesses in general that's a 18 month, two year kind of deal when you're asking for millions of dollars,” Spears said.
Rather than rushing the process, Spears said the athletic department wants to make sure the projects are done correctly and that relationships with donors are developed over time.
“We want to do it the right way and be respectful of the people that are showing interest in having some growth in those areas,” Spears said.
The outdoor fields are already receiving smaller improvements while Newman waits on larger projects. Spears said the university has been fertilizing fields, adding grass to areas where it was not growing well and evaluating the sprinkler system.
The sprinkler system, which Spears said was installed in the 1980s, is also being assessed to determine whether all areas of the fields are receiving adequate water.
“These are the things that are kind of happening behind the scenes that you may not know or see,” Spears said.
Spears credited Newman coaches and the grounds and facilities staff for their work maintaining the athletic fields. He also highlighted the growing relationship between athletics and facilities under Director of Facilities Aaron Roder, who joined Newman within the past year.
Spears said the partnership between the two departments has helped improve the condition of the athletic fields and could play an important role in future facility projects.
The athletic department is also looking at improvements beyond its playing surfaces. Spears said additional changes are expected in the athletic performance area, including improvements to the weight room and nutrition resources for student-athletes.
Newman recently added a “peanut butter and jelly bar,” allowing athletes to get sandwiches, and the department plans to provide additional chocolate milk and Muscle Milk for nutrition purposes.Spears also said athletic performance staff are looking at other additions to the performance room.
While the projects vary in size, Spears said the goal is to continue making improvements throughout the athletic department.
The new basketball court is one of the first visible steps in that process.
“I truly hope they feel that we want to and will invest in the student athletes, student experience, and just the athletic department as a whole,” Spears said.
For now, the athletic department continues to work toward larger projects while making smaller improvements where possible.
“That's just the start of what a master plan is, and hopefully, again as the months continue to turn over, we continue to show drastic improvements in all of our facilities,” Spears said.
PHOTO: Jacob Brown, Editor-in-Chief
