FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Construction is the great sign of progress, and it can be seen all over the Colorado State University campus. That's thanks to a $5 million gift from the Bohemian Foundation to be used for women's athletics.
"It seems appropriate. We're a program that has really invested in women's sports. We're a program that really celebrates our women's sports," Colorado State University Athletic Director Joe Parker said. "So the fact that we can have the largest gift in the history of the conference occur here at Colorado State University feels great, seems appropriate, and we're grateful for it."
That gift will put the icing on top of an $8-10 million project to completely revamp the women's soccer and softball facilities, including new grandstands, playing surfaces, and lights on both fields.
"Game atmosphere, playing under the lights is just something special, whether you're in high school or college," soccer head coach Keeley Hagen said. "Obviously having the community support and having more stands, that's just going to be incredible for the energy and what we're trying to do here."
Not only will it attract top recruits to Fort Collins, but it will immediately impact the current student athletes -- and fans -- for the upcoming seasons.
"They need a little bit better playing surface, the dugouts were really small, if you ever came and watched a game, it's a little difficult to see," softball head coach Jen Fisher said. "The chain link is kind of an old concept."
While the university is putting its money where its mouth is, $5 million is a small price to pay for equity.
"I can't say enough about what that means because our women, they work just as hard as their male counterparts, and we play a sport that is known as an equivalency sport, so we don't have full rides. A lot of people don't really understand that," Fisher said. " This just really speaks to them and says, 'you're important, we see you, you matter, the work you're doing, the work you're putting in, we want you to have a nice place to train,' and now we're going to be able to do that for our women's soccer and our women's softball."
The most immediate applications of the funds will be in two key areas:
- Increasing the budget of the facility upgrade project for the women’s soccer and softball programs which began construction on Aug. 18 and is expected to cost between $8-10 million
- Jumpstarting the budget plan for the second phase of the Moby Locker Room project which will create expanded locker room spaces for volleyball, softball, and soccer while creating a locker room for teams who train away from Moby Arena (golf, tennis, and track and field) to use for weightlifting sessions
Construction of a new grass practice field for soccer and the upgrades for the softball stadium are already underway and expected to be ready for play to begin the 2023 softball season. At the conclusion of the current soccer season, construction will begin on that facility as well. Additionally, the second phase of locker room upgrades inside Moby Arena is expected to begin in early October.
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