Soccer Program to Reap Benefits of Memorial Stadium Expansion Project

There’s no place like home and for the first time in the program’s history, <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska soccer will finally know the true definition of that phrase.  <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

After an 11-year run of playing its home games at the Abbott Sports Complex in northeast Lincoln, the Huskers will move on campus to their new home in the Championship Wing of Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium Expansion Project and will play its games on the Nebraska Soccer Field in Ed Weir Stadium, located just north of Memorial Stadium. 

"We have enjoyed playing at Abbott Sports Complex and have a lot of good memories there, but the players have consistently wanted to play on campus," NU Coach John Walker said of the facility plans that were unveiled in November of 2003. "I think every student wants to play on their campus in front of their fellow students. It's something we will look forward to."

Making the Right Move
While the expansion project will add the components necessary to house the soccer team on campus, the project is about more than just putting up buildings and adding fields.  It’s about having facilities that improve performance.    

When Athletic Director Steve Pederson began this project, he did not just want to simply provide facilities.  He wanted to create championship facilities for championship teams. 

Pederson and Associate Athletic Director Boyd Epley wanted each of Nebraska’s facilities to create championship opportunities.  When student-athletes come to Nebraska, it is apparent they have the support and means necessary to win championships during their college career.

“Our facilities are designed to allow us to practice smarter, longer, and better,” Epley said.  The facility needs to help us improve, educate and recruit with the purpose of winning in mind.  If we didn’t do that, we would miss the mark.”   

One of those championship opportunities involved bringing the soccer team to campus.  NU will play its games at the Nebraska Soccer Field just east of the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex and adjacent to the new Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center.  The Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center will feature 81,200 square feet including a full-sized soccer/football field and increases Nebraska’s practice area.

 The decreased use of Weir’s infield by other sports will allow the soccer team to turn it into a Championship Field to practice and play home games on, which will allow the Nebraska soccer program to become even more of a part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Not only will the team get the opportunity to play right on the campus it represents, but it will also have a chance to make home weekend soccer games a fun-filled event for themselves, as well as the Lincoln community. 

 

The Nebraska campus is located in downtown Lincoln, providing plenty of activity around campus the night before a football Saturday.  Downtown always has a lot of electricity and excitement in the air on the eve of Nebraska football, and that exuberance and game-day atmosphere will spill over into the Nebraska Soccer Field for Nebraska soccer. 

 

All the Way Home

Although the soccer team has practiced on campus since 2002, until this year the team still had to commute to the Abbott Sports Complex in northeast Lincoln to play their home games. 

 

Home games will now be played at the Nebraska Soccer Field, nestled in between the north end of Memorial Stadium to the west of the Coliseum by the historic columns.  The soccer team is now 100 percent on campus. 

 

Nebraska soccer’s new office and locker room facilities are in the same place geographically as their previous home, the Gladys and OttoBaumannBuilding, but the state-of-the-art Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center that the team will soon call home will hardly resemble its predecessor. 

 

One of the most notable differences for the student-athletes is the lavish new locker room they will utilize daily.  Built specifically for them, the locker room will be located adjacent to the Championship Wing’s main hallway so the coaches can have easy access for enter for pre and post-game meetings. 

 

Inside the team’s locker area is the women’s restroom and the luxurious team lounge area.  The locker area’s location in the Championship Wing was no accident. 

 

The entire area was designed with convenience in mind.  The soccer headquarters are located on the southeast corner of the Championship Wing so the team not only has easy access to the Nebraska Soccer Field, but easy access to the Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center for indoor practice. 

 

“I am excited for the players because they will have a large modern locker room and players’ lounge from which they can walk out on to the game field or walk into the indoor practice facility,” Walker said. 

 

Field location is not the only measure of convenience the new facility provides, however.  The new facility combines all the aspects of a program in one location so a team and the team’s facilities are not spread all across campus. 

 

That’s why Epley specifically designed the new facilities with convenience in mind.  He wanted everything in the same place so the program wouldn’t be spread across campus in multiple facilities like other schools are.   

 

“The location is ideal for us,” Walker said. “Being situated in the heart of campus, attached to the football stadium, academic center, indoor facility and being next to our game field makes it very unique.”

 

As yet another measure of convenience, there will be a sky-bridge walkway connecting all of the components of the new complex, allowing the student-athletes to navigate to and from both buildings without going outdoors.

 

“The walkway will allow our players to go from our locker room and offices over the weight room and the academic center without stepping outside,” Walker said. 

 

“Besides being very practical, this ?walkway’ provides a picturesque entrance into the soccer stadium.”

 

The coaches and players will also prepare for opponents in style with a conference room featuring a beautiful view of the both the game day field and the Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center.   

 

“The offices and meeting room overlook the game field and the indoor practice field and provide us with possibly the most unique setting in college soccer,” Walker said. 

 

Walker’s new office features a deck off of the east side of the Championship Wing which will provide a great view of Nebraska Soccer’s new home field nestled inside of the Ed Weir Track.  The office has the best view the Championship Wing has to offer and it will be used to survey the field where many Nebraska soccer victories are sure to take place.

 

The Quest for a Championship

For proof of the level of commitment that Nebraska is taking with its student-athletes, one needs to look no further than the Charles and RomonaMyersPerformanceCenter. 

 

The University of Nebraska is committed to creating championship opportunities for its student-athletes, and the MyersCenter is an example of that.  As part of the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex, the MyersCenter includes 63,500 square feet devoted to the excellence of student-athletes. 

 

As Pederson said when the facilities plans were unveiled, “Athletes are made when no one is watching.”  The MyersCenter will allow Nebraska athletes to prepare like champions so they can become champions. 

 

The MyersCenter will house three important aspects of performance including the strength complex, athletic medicine facility, and nutrition centers. 

 

“Strengths” of the Osborne Complex

Nebraska developed the original strength and conditioning program called Husker Power, and the new strength complex located in the Charles and RomonaMyersPerformanceCenter will give the program a sparkling new home. 

 

Husker Power has played a big role in Nebraska’s historic success in all sports, and the new strength complex will enhance the performance of student-athletes as they strive to win championships. 

 

With the new strength complex, Nebraska will get a new facility for its already state-of-the-art equipment.  The new strength complex will include equipment such as transformers, which is a special squat rack developed by Epley that is currently in use in the present strength complex. 

 

Transformers are mechanical squat racks that control the height of the bar rack, as well as the height of the safety spot that will catch the load should an athlete not be able to complete the lift.  Nebraska is the only place in the world you’ll find these incredible transformers.       

 

Strength is only one component of Husker Power, though.  Conditioning and quickness are also important factors.  Because of that, another aspect of the new fieldhouse that the soccer team will utilize is the new sand volleyball court being installed in the Championship Wing. 

 

According to soccer strength coach Laura Pilakowski, soccer will benefit from using the sand court in many ways. 

 

“It not only helps with vertical power, it’s also going to help with that first step.  Everybody needs to be able to jump high,” Pilakowski said. 

 

Health and Nutrition

Another luxurious new feature of the Osborne Complex is the state-of-the-art athletic medicine facility. 

 

According to Head Athletic Trainer Jerry Weber, the services that athletic training provides are as important as any other an athlete would receive at Nebraska. 

 

“If you get injured on the college level, you only have a finite amount of time to play,” Weber said.  “You only have five years to play four and you can’t afford to sit out for a couple years to rehabilitate, so the quality of health care you receive is very important.”

 

The athletic medicine area will triple in size.  The crown jewel of the new athletic training facility is the beautiful new water rehabilitation area. 

 

“The water rehab area is going to be second-to-none in the country,” Weber said. 

 

The reason for such an extensive water rehabilitation area is because it is a more effective method of rehab, which will put Husker athletes back in competition quicker.

 

“The sooner you get student-athletes back doing functional activities that are closely related to what they’re going to be doing as an athlete, the better you are,” Weber said. 

 

Along with separate hot and cold hydrotherapy pools, the athletic medicine area will feature a 60 by 12 feet lap pool that has three 4-foot-wide lanes.  Each lane will be at a different depth to accommodate a gymnast who is 5-feet tall while simultaneously rehabilitating a 7-foot tall basketball player. 

 

Another separate pool will be equipped with an integrated treadmill and resistance jets to provide the athletic medicine staff with a full array of water rehabilitation options. 

 

Water rehab is not the only feature to the new athletic training facility.  To help with issues like muscle pulls, there will be an office for a massage therapist in the athletic medicine area. 

 

Weber said that the new facility will be arranged like a medical clinic.  There will be separate rehabilitation and taping areas, a pharmacy, doctors’ offices, and X-ray and emergency room suites.

 

“It’s just going to make it more efficient.  It is going to be the top facility in the country,” Weber said. 

 

Another vital aspect of an athlete’s performance is his or her nutrition.  Nebraska is one of only a handful of universities in the country to have a full-time nutritionist on staff. 

 

James Harris is Nebraska’s coordinator of sports nutrition, and the new facility will provide him with new amenities that he can pass on to student-athletes as well. 

 

Three hydration stations and two supplement distribution locations will be installed throughout the Myers Performance Center so that regardless of the athletes’ workout location, they will have immediate access to the provisions they need. 

 

“When you work out, you tear your body down,” Harris said.  “You push yourself harder and harder to tear your body down and then nutrition helps you recover.”

 

As well as being able to nourish athletes more efficiently, Harris’ central location in the Myers Performance Center will allow him to serve the athletes’ individual nutritional needs more effectively. 

 

“With the new facility I will be able to do some things where I estimate calories.  What that means is I can to go to a practice, monitor, and determine how many calories they’re burning, so I can better advise them as to what kind of calories they should be taking in.”

 

More to Come

The new soccer facilities will stack up with the best in the country. 

 

Between the central location, the indoor and outdoor fields, and the luxurious locker room, the Nebraska soccer team will soon have a beautiful setup. 

 

 

The new state-of-the-art facilities are just another example of why “There is No Place Like Nebraska.”