Your gift sparks ...
Game Changers
Driving down Edwin C. Moses Boulevard, you can see how much our donor community cares about University of Dayton athletics. The Arena renovation is well underway, anticipated to be completed November 2019.
This project is just one of many athletic undertakings enabled through donor support. Walking onto campus, you can find another program-changing athletic venture — the Hidalgo Team Lounge — fully completed at the Frericks Center.
The state-of-the-art lounge greatly enhances men’s and women’s soccer — as well as other athletic programs. The building now provides 2,500 square feet of fully renovated space and features a players’ lounge for the soccer teams and a film and team meeting room for use across various athletic programs.
“In the world of athletics, this room is best described as a ‘game changer.’ We are always looking for a competitive edge when it comes to recruiting, and I believe this room will be unmatched to any other Division I soccer program when it comes to a player lounge,” said men’s soccer head coach Dennis Currier.
A lead gift from former UD soccer player Joaquin Hidalgo ’83 paved the way for the transformative space, which will greatly enhance the experiences and development of those future players — as well as current ones.
“We were so excited for the opening of the lounge, which serves as a true home base for our women’s and men’s programs,” said women’s team captain Beth Kamphaus ’19. “We use the space in a number of different ways, like team meetings and film sessions or eating and relaxing in our free time.”
Men’s midfielder Daniel Dos Santos ’20 emphasizes the importance of having such a space for the team to gather. “Before the lounge, we would never really hang out as a team because there wasn’t a place where we could really stay. Now, we have a place where we can eat before practices, watch games together and play games together. That will help the long-term chemistry of the team so much.”
Hidalgo, and so many others in our Flyer family, know what it means to put team first. It’s the reason our athletic programs grow, year after year.
Features of the Hidalgo Team Lounge
- Kitchenette
- Multiple televisions
- Xbox and PlayStation consoles
- Foosball table
- Interactive TV with highlights and stats
- Comfortable couches and chairs, as well as high-back chairs
- Seating for 100+ people
- Projector with drop-down large screen in the front of the room
- Two large flat-screen TVs in the back of the room